Koujo Lin: The Account
by Sierrapeyton
Summary: Trials can make people stronger, or they can bring them to their knees. Lin Koujo must rise about the tribulations being thrown his way in order to save someone dear to him, as well as save himself and the rest of the team at SPR. A rekindled romance- will Lin be able to protect all of the people he loves, or will yet another hardship strike the Onmyouji?
1. Chapter 1: Migraines

A/N Several of the statements in this story regarding Lin's eye, including the phrase "Third eye", were derived from the Akumu no Sumu Manga. More information at the end of the chapter.

Disclaimer;

Me: I don't own Ghost Hunt- obviously. That's why I write fanfiction about it.

Lin: But she really wishes she owned it.

Me: Yes, yes I do.

Lin: Don't forget to read and review, and you can favorite and follow as well!

Koujo Lin absolutely _abhorred_ headaches. They were distracting, annoying, and downright painful. They prevented him from performing as efficiently as he needed to in his line of work. That was something unforgivable as the bodyguard and assistant of Oliver Davis. He needed to be at the top of his game at all times, he always had to be able to detect trouble, and always had to know whether or not circumstances held any sort of danger for his charge. These detestable things called 'headaches' made it difficult for him to concentrate, let alone keep a trained eye on their surroundings.

He knew exactly _why_ he got these sharp pains in his skull, and also knew that he could do nothing about them. They were linked to his third eye; his right eye, the one always dutifully covered by the lock of black fringe positioned over it like a veil. His right eye was blind to the type of light that his left eye could see; visual light, although it was not blind to other sorts of light. He had something called 'Electromagnetic Vision', he could see things that others could not, radio waves, electromagnetic waves, and other sources of light. He got headaches because humans were not meant to be able to see the otherwise unseen. His mind couldn't process what his right eye was detecting so the headaches were it's way of trying to force the information to leave it's vicinity.

This made the headaches more intense, as Lin could not easily forget what information he had seen, when he saw the same things every time he glanced at something using his covered eye. It was a constant fight between human anatomy and his powers as a psychic. Most of the time it seemed that his anatomy would win out.

Lin had a headache now, or more like a migraine, as it was proving to be more painful than the others that he'd experienced as of late. He'd been staring at the monitor of his laptop for several minutes, trying to make sense of the words that he typed on the word document regarding SPR's last case. The text muddled together in his mind, it all looked the same, and Lin realized that if only the damn overly persistent ache in his cranium would just dissipate, he'd be able to focus and get his work done.

"Lin," A concerned feminine voice said cautiously from behind the dark-haired omnyouji. He turned around to face the voice, his hand pressed to his right temple. The voice belonged to Mai, the sixteen year old girl whom Naru had hired as a replacement assistant in Lin's stead after he'd been injured while protecting the aforementioned girl. Naru had kept her as an assistant and an investigator. Though he'd never given Lin any inclination as to his reasoning for hiring her, Lin thought that he knew precisely why, although he refused to let his mind wander there. Instead he glanced down to Mai's cinnamon brown eyes and saw the worry there; she could tell that there was something off about her colleague today, "Is something wrong? You keep holding your head like you're in pain." she finished, taking a step towards him from her perch on the couch behind his desk.

"I have a minor headache. Nothing to be concerned with. I get them fairly often, so I'm used to it." Lin said, warily watching the girl as her worry changed from concern to anger and then back to the originally felt emotion

"You get chronic headaches? Have you seen a doctor about you this, Lin-San?" Mai asked, her voice hard as if she knew the answer already but was dreading hearing it.

"I have not. And even if I chose to, what would a doctor do, hmm? The only thing that one could do for my headaches is provide me the contact details for the nearest asylum. No medicine can defeat what causes my migraines." Lin replied, leaning forward on his hand as another, sharper, wave of pain shot through his head, eliciting a gasp out of the normally stoic Chinese man.

"Lin!" Mai yelled, rushing forward and placing a hand on his shoulder. His body was stiff, as if he was bracing himself against the pain, and with the loud and agonized sounding gasp that he'd let loose, she wouldn't be surprised if he was. Lin did not respond to her touch in any way, he simply concentrated on calming down his ragged breathing. He sat there with his head in his hands for several minutes, waiting until the migraine subsided into a dull ache in his temples. When he felt well enough, he turned his steely gray gaze onto Mai.

"I'm fine, Mai, though I'll admit that these pains usually aren't so severe. This one simply caught me off guard." He admitted, gently shrugging her hand off of his shoulder. Mai sighed deeply, taking a step back.

"What did you mean when you said that medicine can't help you?" She asked, hoping that he'd feel inclined to answer. Lin turned back to his laptop, determined to finish filing the case information. Although it soon became apparent to him that Mai wasn't going to back down, as the young girl had not moved an inch since he turned away from her.

"Mai, I don't get headaches because I'm sick. It's nothing related to a disease, either. That's why medicine won't help me." He stated matter-of-factly. He turned around to gauge her reaction and fought the urge to smirk when he saw her brown eyes widen. She had realized the underlying source of his chronic headaches.

"The headaches come from your powers? But how?" Mai asked, staring hard at him as she tried to figure out the answer for herself. Lin was about to reply, but was cut off as a third voice joined the conversation.

"Lin get's headaches due to the fact that he has something called electromagnetic vision. I'll explain it on terms that even you can understand, Mai." The voice said, and Lin and Mai turned to face Naru (aka Kazuya Shibuya aka Oliver Davis), who stood in the doorway of his office to the right of Lin's desk. He had a black notebook in his hand and his head bent towards it, as if he was reading whatever he had written there. He gave no indication that he had spoken until Mai let out an annoyed huff. When she did, he turned his ocean blue eyes on her and gave her a condescending look.

"Mai, patience is not one of your virtues," he said, glaring at his younger assistant. If he had been paying more attention, he would have heard his older assistant mutter the word 'hypocrite' into his hand. "As I was saying, Lin has electromagnetic vision-" Naru started again, but much to his annoyance, he was cut off.

"Yes, I heard the part about him having elect-er whatever vision. There is no need to repeat yourself." Mai muttered, still annoyed at her Boss's earlier insult of her intelligence. Naru's eyes widened then narrowed as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, something that meant he was supremely annoyed.

"Mai, do not childishly interrupt someone who is trying to explain something so that a person with your level of intelligence can understand," Naru said scathingly, annoyance prominent in his voice, "it would be wise of you to listen so that I do not confuse and cause you to ask pointless questions." he added, walking into the room and taking a seat on the couch that Mai had previously vacated. Mai glanced at Lin, who shook his head slightly, as if silently telling her not to continue to antagonize Naru. Mai took his unspoken advice and sighed.

"I'm sorry Naru." Mai forced herself to say, giving her boss a false smile, one that he, of course, did not return. Instead, he sighed.

"As I was saying, Lin has electromagnetic vision which means that he can see radio waves and other types of light that otherwise, humans cannot see. His mind doesn't understand what it's focusing on, at least, the rational part doesn't, therefore, it tries to protect Lin from the things that he shouldn't be able to be aware of. It causes him headaches because he can't forget things that become imprinted in his mind; he sees these supposed to be invisible light sources every time he looks out of his right eye, that's the reason he keeps it covered with his hair; it stops him from seeing everything, thought it's obviously not an ideal solution and doesn't help him much." Naru replied, without pausing to take a breath. Mai stared hard at Lin again, then chose to ask the question that had been eating at her mind.

"Lin, would you mind showing me your eye? I've never actually seen it, and I guess now I know the reason why," Mai said cautiously, chancing a look at her stoic colleague. He'd stiffened in his chair, his eyes not meeting hers, "It's fine if you don't want to show me, I was just curious, that's all." She added, praying that she hadn't upset or offended him. To her surprise, Lin moved the lock of hair away from his eye and gestured towards her. She took the few steps that it took to get to him slowly, coming to a stop to the left of his chair. He raised his right eye upwards, and she gasped; it wasn't wasn't gray as she had expected it to be; it was a murky blue.

"Lin, why is it blue?" She asked, her voice gentle. She watched as Lin closed his right eye again, letting his black fringe fall back into place. He sighed deeply, and glanced at Naru, who for some reason, nodded.

"Mai, have you not figured it out, yet? I'm technically _blind_ in my right eye; I have electromagnetic vision in it, though I can't see the same type of light that my left eye sees." Lin said slowly, hoping that he hadn't confused the girl standing beside him. She stared back at him warily.

"Does it have any link to your shiki? She asked as images of the white lights came into her mind. To her surprise, Lin stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled lightly, wincing a little at the noise. His shiki appeared, circling around their master's head.

"When you look at my shiki, what do you see?" Lin asked her, raising his hand up and coaxing one of them down from above him; it stretched out and coiled around his wrist. Mai stared at it, mesmerized by the flexible white light. She glanced up at Lin's eyes again, and noticed him staring at her; she'd neglected to answer his earlier question.

"When I look at your shiki, I see little white orbs of light that float around; they don't have a solid looking form, and they have no limbs." She said, looking up towards the ceiling where the other four shiki still floated. They all looked exactly the same to her. Lin glanced at Naru and laughed, much to Mai's surprise.

"You're not the only one who sees white lights; Naru and everyone else, other than myself, are only able to see a collection of small lights." Lin said, pausing to gently stroke the shiki wrapped around his wrist, "I see their true form; they are made up of electromagnetic waves that when exposed to visual light, will show a different form to those without electromagnetic vision. That form is what you see." He finished, carefully shaking off the shiki on his wrist and watching it float back up to the air above him. Mai's eyes followed it closely it as it began to participate in the circular rotation around Lin's head.

"How can you see a different form than everyone else? You only have electromagnetic vision in one eye, so how can you not see what we're seeing?" She asked, still not fully understanding the extent of Lin's power. He sighed, steeling himself for the complicated explanation.

"I meant that I can see both their true form and the form that is projected for those who can't see electromagnetic energies; the form I see depends on whether or not I am using my right or left eye. So to answer your earlier question, yes, my eye does have a sort of link to my shiki, if I use my right eye to look at them, I see something different than the glowing white orbs we discussed." Lin stated, rubbing his head again as another wave of pain shot through his skull; he really was tempted to try some pain reliever, if there was even a slight chance that it would work. He glanced at Mai then as an idea came to his mind.

"Mai, there's a bottle of pain reliever in the left drawer of the desk in my office, would you mind going and getting it for me?" Lin asked her casually. The young girl didn't respond in any way, she just continued to stare at the bound ghosts still continuously floating above her and her colleague's heads, as if she were mesmerized by them, and truth be told, in a way, she was. It was their job, her's, Lin's, and Naru's, to _hunt_ ghost, and here Lin was keeping them as minions. The comical part of her brain briefly wondered if Lin had trained them to do tricks,. The thought almost made her chuckle, until she felt Lin's eyes on her; she slowly turned and met his steely gaze.

"Lin-San? Is there something that you need?" She asked innocently, giving her co-worker her full attention.

"I asked whether or not you would be willing to go and retrieve the bottle of pain reliever in my office- it's in the left desk drawer." Lin repeated, a barely perceptible note of impatience in his voice. The young girl's eyes widened momentarily as she realized that she had tuned Lin out so completely, but nonetheless, she scurried off towards the office to the right of his desk. Lin turned towards Naru and sighed. Noticing this, Naru gave him a quick once over with his eyes; he looked tired, something that he easily covered up with good posture, but not something that he could hide well from someone who had known him for many years.

"Lin, how long have these headaches been this excruciating? I highly doubt that this is the first of the sort that you've experienced." Naru reasoned carefully, afraid that if he pushed Lin to answer questions, his assistant would blatantly refuse to answer them. To his surprise, Lin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"I've been experiencing more intense migraines for about a month now, but I don't for sure as to why they are suddenly getting worse. I've been getting headaches since I was a teenager, in fact, I began getting them even before I met you and Gene, although, they've never been quite so debilitating."

Naru nodded his understanding and relaxed against the couch, propping his elbow against the arm rest and capturing his chin in his hand, something that the young paranormal researcher often did when thinking very deeply about something.

"Lin, do you have any idea what originally brought on the headaches? You said that you were a teenager when they first started- exactly how old were you?" He inquired quietly as his mind muddled over all of the information that he'd ever read over in medical journals, trying to recall anything that could provide insight into his assistant's worsening condition. He watched as Lin pushed his chair out from under the desk, and slowly rose to his full height. His shiki followed his motions, continuing to float dutifully above their master's head. The taller man turned his gaze to his young charge and sighed warily, meeting his ocean blue eyes once before turning his head away to look out of the window directly in front of him.

"Oliver, is there any particular reason why you feel the need to ask me so many questions? I understand why Mai would want to know- she's an exceptionally curious person, but you've never felt the need to interrogate me. What changed?" He asked quizzically. Naru chuckled dryly, surprising himself and his assistant.

"Is that what this feels like to you, Lin? An interrogation? It's hardly that- I just want to make sure that you don't pass out on the floor, I'm afraid that I'd have to dock your pay if that ever happened. Becoming ill on the job is bad for business, I'm sure you're aware of that." Naru replied slyly, a smirk on his face. Lin tried to fight off his own half grin, but failed.

"Luckily Naru, you don't pay me; Martin and Luella do. Or had you forgotten about your poor parents? By the way, you haven't called your mother in weeks, have you?" Lin retorted, phrasing the last part like a question as he glanced at Naru with feigned innocence, the smirk widening into a sadistic smile, "Luella will probably get so worried that she'll make Martin drive her all the way from England to Japan. Maybe I should call and inform her that her son is overworking himself again and not sleeping." He threatened, watching as his young charge's Cerulean blue eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. Lin genuinely laughed at his friend's obvious terror of the looming threat of an unplanned visit from his nagging and overprotective mother. Hearing the sound of being laughed at, Naru snapped out of his daze and schooled his expression, forcing himself to put on his mask of stoic indifference once again.

"I'm not an idiot, Lin- I know you're bluffing. You wouldn't dare call Luella, seeing as she'd force you to rest and go see a doctor for these headaches, and you know that you wouldn't be able to refuse. When that woman wants something, she get's it. Even Martin gives into her whims." Naru proclaimed, he hoped that Lin would remember that a visit from Luella would not only cause him irritation, but the the stoic Chinese man standing in front of him as well. He knew how much Lin liked order and serenity, and with Luella around, their lives would be anything but. Likewise, the dark-haired omnyouji seemed to realize this as well, he stopped looking out the window and met Naru's blue gaze once more.

"You're right, I was bluffing. Although, I think you were aware of that already," Lin acknowledged warily, knowing damn well that though Luella had his and her son's best interests at heart, she was a very forceful person when in came to people refusing to succumb to her motherly instincts. "I'd never do anything to sabotage the relative quite of the office, it's bad enough when Monk and Ayako come here and bicker constantly." He added the last part with a slight note of disapproval in his deep voice. Sometimes he secretly wished that the self-proclaimed Shrine Maiden and Buddhist monk would realize that they liked each other and finally start dating. He had similar desires for Oliver and a certain brunette to realize the same romantic feelings that they had toward each other. It would save him the irritation of listening to two teenagers bicker all day, or so he hoped. He was broken out of his reverie as all of the sudden, loud footsteps could be heard bounding over the wooden floor of SPR's reception room as Mai dashed hurriedly into the room, a bottle of Tylenol tightly clutched in her hand. She stopped beside Lin who turned to look at her, an eyebrow quirked in confusion at her seemingly excited mood.

"Sorry it took me so long, Lin. I guess that you said left desk drawer- I was looking in the right." She said, smiling apologetically as she held out the bottle of pain reliever to her colleague. He took it and glanced at Naru, who was smirking.

"Mai, I knew you were dumb, but I thought that you were coherent enough to know your right from your left. Maybe I should cut some of your work hours so that you can spend more time in school, because apparently, you could use the extra help," Naru said condescendingly, a slight smirk gracing his lips. Mai huffed and was on the verge of saying something that she would undoubtedly come to regret, but couldn't get the words out fast enough before Naru continued to speak, "Mai, tea." he ordered, his smirk growing slightly as she turned to glower scathingly in his direction. Lin's shiki circled around his head more quickly as they sensed the growing tension in the room, signaling their master that they were ready to intervene if need be. 'Méiyǒu yǐnqǐ rénmen de guānzhù.' Lin said to them in Chinese, using the telepathic link that he shared with his shiki to send them a calming message. The shiki responded by floating a little bit closer to their master's head, as if preparing to defend him if the need arose, though they stopped circling quite so fast, and for that, Lin was secretly glad due to the fact that a severe migraine and watching something spin rapidly often had repercussions. He was not going to give Naru the satisfaction of seeing him get sick during work if he could prevent it; he'd never live it down.

At the same time, Mai blushed scarlet as Naru smirked at her. "Stupid narcissist!" She shrieked, before darting out of the reception room and beginning to run in the general direction of the kitchen. Lin shook his head slightly and ran a hand through his thick black hair, smoothing down the lock covering his right eye. Lin met Naru's scrutinizing gaze and sighed.

"You still want to try and find the underlying cause of the change in severity of these headaches, don't you?" He questioned, although he already knew the answer.

"Yes," Naru replied simply, raising an eyebrow as he paused, waiting for the revelation to sink in, "I need to know what you think caused the original headaches." Lin nodded as the headache once again became overwhelming. He sat back down on his desk chair and stuck his fingers in his mouth, and whistled as quietly as he could. His shiki evaporated and disappeared once again. He placed the still unopened bottle of Tylenol on his desktop and turned to stare at his charge, his gray eyes hard.

"When I first started getting headaches, it was right around the time that my powers started growing stronger. It was unexpected, although I'd always known that I could sense things that other people could not, but never had I been able to see spirits so clearly." Lin said as he idly rubbed his temples.

"Is is possible that a powerful spirit is trying to contact you and is unable to project itself properly, although your eye is still trying to sense it?" Naru asked, his voice calculating.

"I honestly don't know, Oliver," Lin answered, wishing that Naru would just drop the subject entirely, Talking was making his migraine worse, "Maybe I should give Martin a call. He might know what the headaches mean, and be able to sate your curiosity on the matter as well." He added, saying the last part rather sarcastically.

Naru ignored the obvious sarcasm directed at him and nodded. "As long as mother doesn't catch wind of it, then I'm quite alright with Martin providing his aid." He agreed reasonably. That's when Mai came back into the room, a tray with three mugs of Earl Grey tea situated on it. She walked over to Lin and placed a cup of the steaming brown liquid on his desk. He glanced up at her and nodded his thanks, offering her a slight smile before grabbing the bottle of Tylenol and twisting off the cap. He blew into his mug to cool down the tea some, then took a sip, and dumped two tablets of Tylenol into his mouth. He didn't honestly think that they would work, but he needed to try something to stop this distraction. He swallowed the pills and sat his tea cup down, turning his attention towards Mai, who was standing in front of Naru, the now empty tea platter held in her hand. She was gazing at the roof, where Lin's shiki had been before she'd left.

"Lin, what happened to the shiki? I was going to ask if I could touch them, you know I've never touched a spirit unless it was trying to kill me and-" She stuttered, but was cut of by her narcissistic boss.

"Of course," Naru began, shaking his head, "ghosts try to kill her all the time, yet she still feels the need to pet them."

Lin was about to reply, though to his shock and mild annoyance, his cellphone rang from his pants pocket. He slipped it out, wincing at the droning ring-tone as it made his headache slightly worse, and glanced at his caller ID. He felt his heart rise up to his throat and his stomach hit the floor; it was his father, someone whom he didn't have the best relationship with and only spoke to on rare occasions.

"Dad?" He choked out, as he watched Mai and Naru stare at each other, unspoken concern in Mai's gaze and forced stoicism in Naru's.

"Koujo," the gruff yet familiar voice of Lin's father rang through the receiver, "It's your sister. She's gone missing."

Lin dropped the phone.

* * *

**A/N**

**The Chinese sentence Lin sent to his shiki roughly translates to "There is no cause for concern." in Chinese.**

**Sorry if this chapter wasn't as good as it could have been; I had some words italicized and things of that nature, but my original document was lost when my laptop crashed. I would have lost the entire thing, had I not sent a copy to my beta through doc x. He knows who he is. **

Additional info: In the manga it is stated that Lin is blind in his right eye, an has been since birth. He has electromagnetic vision in that eye. I simply took these facts and infused them with headcannons.


	2. Chapter 2: Dreams of the Darkest Kind

A/N I must apologize to those who read the first chapter of this story and enjoyed it; I am a something called a 'panster' writer, which means that I plan very little of my chapters- I write, and what happens happens. I cannot write any other way, though this style of writing does have it's drawbacks, one of the larger ones being that I have intense writer's block. I got over it, and this chapter very nearly ended up being 10,000 words, before I was advised to split it up, so the next part should be coming soon. Enjoy.

Lin: Sierra doesn't own Ghost Hunt

Sierra: Thanks Lin, I think we got that.

Lin: *Glares daggers at me*

Koujo Lin typed restlessly at his computer, his dark eyes scanning the word document containing the unfinished details of the last case that Shibuya Psychic Research had solved. He hadn't been able to finish it with the migraine that he'd been suffering from earlier in the day, and then the phone call from his father, and the dramatic recall. He was now tired and the time was past midnight, so the onmyouji's mind was not really on his work, for a change. Instead, his thoughts were dedicated to the aforementioned phone call that had very nearly shocked him to death; his sister, Lifen, was missing.

Lifen was nineteen, in reality, not much older than Mai. She was one of the reasons that the stoic onmyouji, who had a strong detestation for the Japanese people, had began to warm up considerably towards the feisty brunette who was his co-worker. In some ways she reminded him of his sister- both passionate and loyal. Though Lifen was more of a handful as Lin remembered, last time he'd went back to Hong Kong to visit, Lifen had been eighteen and already had quite the rebellious streak, according to their mother. He guessed that it must have been quite difficult for her growing up; she did have four _older _brothers to contend with- all averaging above six foot two in height.

Lin remembered having to compete with his older brothers- Draidyan and Lukida, when he was her age. He had thought that he'd never had someone to get the one-up on until his mother had given birth to his only younger brother, Nazuke. Then three years later, she had announced that she was having her first, and most likely _only _girl as she felt like she was becoming too old to continue having children.

Lifen had become precious to Lin fast- brothers were a quantity that sometimes he'd felt like he had had too much of, but sisters, he only had the one. He had filled the protective older brother role well, until he'd gotten the call from Martin and Luella Davis regarding their son who had an impressively large amount of PK and needed to be taught Qigong to control it. This was just after Lin had graduated High School, and his grades were high enough to attend Cambridge, meaning that he could go to school as well as watch over Noll at the same time- it had fit perfectly.

Lin had been seventeen, and Lifen only nine when he'd left Hong Kong. The young girl had made her older brother _swear_ (she had only a little while before upgraded from the pinkie-promise), that he would be careful in England, and not to forget to come home every once in a while. It had been hard, though Lin had managed to come home and visit his family every year until his transfer to Japan upon Eugene Davis's untimely demise.

He had missed his yearly visit- much to Lifen's irritation, as Lin painfully remembered. He regretted that now- he realized that if she was not found safely, he might never see her again. He might never get to see her marry, or have children.

He had sworn to be careful, so why hadn't he asked _her_ to do the same while in China? She had thought about his safety, but had he thought about _hers? _Guilt made the usually stoic Onmyouji cease in his typing and close his dark eyes.

Footsteps outside of his office door caused Lin's eyes to pop open; he strained his ears to hear in the silence of the room, after a moment, he managed to hone into the noise; and realized that it was the unmistakable pitter patter of feet on the hardwood floor of SPR's reception room.

This was strange as the only other people who were supposed to be at the office were Naru and Mai, the former who was working in his office and the latter who was sleeping upstairs in one of the adjoining apartments (she had moved into the one opposite of the apartment that Lin and Noll shared when they returned from England- her landlord had realized that he could get into legal trouble for allowing an underage orphan to rent from him, and had not wished for the problems), and should not have been awake, as far as the Onmyouji was concerned.

He held onto that train of thought until he heard a familiar voice coming from the office adjacent to his own- it was indubitably Mai's.

"Naru, are you awake?" A pause ensued, and then, "Naru, I think that there's something wrong...it feels like that int- intui thingie or whatever you call it." Lin strained his ears and was surprised when he heard an obviously sleep tinged voice reply.

"Mai, do you have any idea what time it is?" It was Oliver's voice, and the irritation from being awoken was clearly evident in his voice.

"No." Lin heard the soft and slightly worried reply from the young brunette, and then the audible sigh of frustration from his charge.

"It's past midnight, Mai, why aren't you in bed asleep? You do realize that you have work in the morning, correct? I don't want you taking naps on the job anymore than you already do." The paranormal researcher muttered in a beseeching tone. Lin realized that in his tired state, Noll had not understood Mai's reason for waking him up. The black haired man stood up from behind his mahogany wood desk and rose to his full height, completely prepared to march into his charge's office and speak on Mai's behalf, as he knew why she had went into her Boss's office at the hour she had. However, the need did not arise as neither of the teenagers spoke for several minutes, due to this, Lin assumed that the altercation had upset Mai and she was standing in Noll's office sulking, so he went back to typing out the case details, the rhythmic sound of his keys clicking luring his mind into a state inattention. He unconsciously tuned out the noises of his environment (something that he had gotten used to doing while Masako, Ayako, and Monk were called in to investigate cases), until he heard a particular phrase from the office next to his that contained _his_ name. At that moment, the Onmyodo's ears perked up.

"Mai, that still doesn't explain why you didn't go to Lin with this- he knows just as much about your intuition as I do and I assure you that he is fully capable of keeping you safe should the need arise." Noll's voice was still wary with sleep, although it seemed as if some of his prior irritation with his younger assistant had evaporated, no doubt due to the fact that Mai had recounted her reason for interfering with his slumber once again.

"Lin was asleep on the couch when I came downstairs, I didn't want to wake him up, and well, I didn't know that you'd be asleep and by the time I came in here and realized that you were it was too late-" Mai stuttered, her voice rising as she tried to explain her actions to her Boss. The narcissist mercifully cut her off.

"Never mind that now- what's more important is why Lin was sleeping on the couch in the first place- he has a bedroom upstairs should he get tired, which is a rare occasion in itself it seems."

By this time Lin had made his way to the door of his office and pulled it open, revealing the darkened SPR reception room; his view of the couch was clear, and there was no figure resembling his own lying on the couch, although somehow that made him feel more uneasy. _Who or what was it that Mai saw?'_ He wondered anxiously to himself. Lin summoned his shiki with his mind (he only had to whistle when he need them to become visible to everyone else), and they appeared to him without fail- five humanoid looking creatures slightly resembling young children. At first glance they could be considered cute, but on closer inspection they had twisted fangs protruding out from their mouths, like a cats, and paws to match. As he watched one even flexed his hand and dangerous claws slid out silently as the 'child' flexed. The most disturbing aspect was the pair of wings jutting out from their shoulders lending to their eerie and otherworldly aspects. This was their _true_ form- the one only someone with electromagnetic vision could see. The white lights that appeared for everyone else was their choice of physical manifestation, as it was a very basic and easy to manipulate form.

Though Lin had the power to order his Shikigami to change their physical projection anything that he desired (it took his own energy to do so, and could have very dangerous consequences if he attempted to change all five of them at one time into a form he was not utterly familiar with), he could not command them to change the childlike form he laid eyes on every time he looked at them out of his right eye, as they did not have the power to change their real form.

Once his shiki were present, Lin made his way out into the darkened reception room and felt chills run up his spine. Continuing forward, he made his way to Oliver's office to the right of his own and pushed open the door. Naru was sitting at his desk, his chin captured in his hand, and Mai was standing beside him, her cinnamon eyes wide.

"Lin," the brunette said gently, her eyes slowly meeting co-worker's wary gaze, "why were you sleeping on the couch- why not go upstairs?" Lin chuckled darkly, causing the young girl to blink in confusion.

"I haven't been anywhere _near_ the couch tonight, let alone sleeping on it, Mai," He said, his gray gaze traveling to Naru's blue one. The paranormal researcher had an unreadable expression on his stoic face, however his right hand, the one not holding his chin, was drumming a slight rhythm on his desktop.

"Mai, are you positive that you saw Lin on the couch? It wouldn't be the first time that you were wrong about something," Naru questioned, unable to hide the slight smirk that formed on his face; Lin knew that he secretly loved the kick that he got out of insulting his young assistant's intelligence, as he never failed to get a reaction out of her.

"Yes, you stupid narcissist! I know what I saw; Lin or someone who looked a lot like him was sleeping on the couch," Mai yelled, her gaze hardening, she did not like to be doubted. Although by now, Lin had heard enough to know that something was off.

"Mai, I assure that the only time that I have left my office since around eight at night was to come in here. I have not been on the couch." Mai's face faltered, then fell as she realized what Lin was saying; _she really hadn't saw him_.

"Do you think that I _could_ have been imagining it, Naru? You told me to trust my gut feelings, and I could have sworn that this was like one of those," The young psychic tried to defend herself, however even her own voice had taken on a dubious tone, as if she was no longer convinced herself. Although Lin did not feel in the slightest that she _had_ imagined it. Thinking like that was something that could get them killed in their line of work.

"Mai," The stoic Onmyouji said, gaining the attention of his younger co-worker, "did you have one of those 'gut feelings' before or after you saw what looked like me on the couch?" He watched as her brown eyes narrowed then closed as she recounted the past fifteen minutes in her head. After a moment, she opened her eyes and spoke.

"Before. As soon as I woke up, I felt like something was wrong. Then I saw you, or what wasn't you on the couch and came in here to tell Naru," Mai answered, her brow crinkling as she though back to the moment that she had awoken.

"What woke you up originally, did you have a dream or something of the sort?" Naru chimed in, his dark eyes scanning around the room uneasily.

"I did have a dream, actually. Gene was in it too- he told me to wake up but he wouldn't, or couldn't tell me why." Mai answered. Lin could see the barely perceptible stiffening of Naru's shoulders as he heard the news that his dead twin brother was still acting as a spirit guide to Mai and had not passed on; the Onmyouji was sure that the body language would be lost on anyone who hadn't know the young paranormal researcher as long as he had, but Lin could not be so easily fooled by his friend's stoic persona; he knew that as deep down as it may have been, Oliver did miss Eugene greatly.

However, when Noll spoke, his tone sounded as casual as if he were discussing the weather forecast, and not a dream in which his deceased twin brother was attempting to provide aid to his danger magnet of an assistant.

"Gene didn't say anything about the reason why it would be prudent for you to awaken, he simply told you to wake up, am I correct?" He asked, sounding slightly unconvinced.

"Well, to tell you the truth, Gene didn't actually 'say' anything," The brunette began, smiling sheepishly at her Boss, who as always, remained stoic, "but his eyes said to wake up; they looked scared, and his mouth kept moving, but no sound came out. It was like something was blocking him from communicating with me," She finished in a rush, memories of her spirit guide's pleading cerulean blue eyes, identical to the one's belonging to the man in front of her, begging her to wake up.

Naru stood up suddenly from behind his desk, and headed towards the door. Lin moved to follow, and when Mai did not, her boss turned to look at her from over his shoulder.

"Mai, why are still standing there looking like an idiot? Are you coming or what?" asked Naru, a slight edge of annoyance in his voice.

"Where are we going, Naru?" The brunette asked, coming up behind Lin and falling into step with him as he and Naru exited the office. Oliver, as per the usual, said nothing, however Lin offered a few words in the way of an explanation.

"Oliver has no idea what it was that you saw- he would rather take the precaution of leaving the office temporarily than remaining and running the risk of a return visit," The Onmyouji replied, his eyes darting around the darkened reception room that they had come into. He did not see anything suspicious, however the chill that he had felt upon walking out of his office had not left him. He followed behind Naru, until he saw his charge approach the couch where Mai had saw the figure that had looked like him.

"What is it Naru?" Mai asked, taking a few steps forward, however, she did not get far, as Lin's furious voice startled her.

"NOLL- don't do it!" he yelled, the words sounding as though they had been ripped from his throat. Oliver, however, did not listen, as his hand snaked towards the couch. A sharp gasp escaped him as he was pulled into a psychometric vision. His shoulders stiffened, and his blue eyes glazed over. Mai yelled, however Lin just stared. _'What the hell is he thinking? He knows what will happen! _The Onmyouji screamed inside of his head.

He rushed forward as he saw Naru sliding towards the floor, reaching out, he caught his young charge. He had fallen unconscious, the strain on his body had been too much without the distribution of energy that only Eugene could have done with him. Lin stared at his charge's unconscious face, as Mai's eyes welled with tears.

"Lin, is he alright?" She asked, coming to stand behind her co-worker. Lin did not reply until he had stood up with Naru in his arms. After a moment, he turned towards the brunette and sighed.

"Yes, he'll be fine after he rests for awhile. As you are aware, his body cannot handle the physical strain that his powers cause, and will respond in varying ways depending on how taxed his energy was. Falling unconscious was simply the repercussion of Noll using his powers this time, we should actually consider ourselves quite lucky that it was not something worse," Mai flinched at his words, however she was well aware that Lin spoke the truth; the last time that Naru had used his powers, his heart had stopped, and he had very nearly died.

Mai shuddered, causing Lin to pick up on what she was thinking.

"This isn't as dire as what happened after his altercation with the Okobu- Naru should recover from this without a hospital visit. There is no need to be alarmed, Mai."

Gesturing towards the door with a slight nod of his head, Lin led the way towards the door and out of the SPR building, Mai following closely behind him. When they got outside, Lin headed straight towards the van and stopped outside of the right door. Mai opened it up for him and watched as he laid Naru inside and went to the the driver's side and slipped into the seat. Mai made a move towards the door, however Lin looked at her from inside the van and shook his head, waving his hand towards the seat behind him; he apparently wanted her to sit in the back to keep an eye on Naru.

Inside the van, Lin buckled up his seat belt and placed the keys in the ignition, causing the car to roar to life. He finished adjusting his mirrors just as Mai's door closed and her own seat belt clicked. Lin put the van into drive and headed towards a hotel further away in Shibuya.

When he pulled the van onto the road, he glanced at his two younger traveling companions in the back seat. Mai had pulled Noll's head into her lap and was stroking his raven colored hair. The Onmyouji wasn't sure if she was aware of what she was doing. However, he glanced at his charge's sleeping face for a fraction of a second, and he could have sworn that his expression looked _peaceful_. Although, when he turned his gaze back towards Oliver, his face was as stoic as ever. Lin smirked slightly before glancing into the backseat again. His smirk disappeared when he saw the flow of tears streaming from Mai's eyes. She met his gaze in the mirror, but she looked away just as quickly.

"Listen Mai, I told you that he would be just fine after some rests for a night- I'm driving us to a hotel where he can do so. If it is of any consolation to you, if he begins exhibiting signs of a worsening condition, I will not hesitate to get him emergency care. Just trust me on this; he will recover, as he has done before," Mai nodded and wiped her eyes. She proceeded to lay her head against the back of the seat and relax. Lin paid attention to the road and drove in silence for several minutes until the Creston Hotel came into his line of sight. He pulled into the parking lot and stopped the car in a spot close to the entrance.

With a sigh the tall man walked towards the back door and tapped on the window; Mai had fallen asleep. Hearing the noise, the young girl's eyes popped open just as Lin opened the door.

"Mai, I need you to lay Noll down on the seat and get out of the van so I can get a hold of him," The brunette nodded and rubbed her eyes, then gently eased herself out from under her Boss's unconscious form. Lin held out his hand and Mai took it, allowing herself to be hauled out of the van. She released her co-worker's hand just before he turned his back to her and grabbed Naru under the arms, then hefted him up and out of the vehicle. Mai slammed the door closed and followed Lin through the automatic doors of the hotel.

Once they reached the lobby, Lin spotted a vacant couch at the far end of the room, and carried his unconscious charge towards it. By the time Mai had caught up with Lin, he had already laid Naru on the floral patterned couch, with his head propped up on the cushion.

He turned on his heel and walked towards the receptionist's desk. A young Japanese woman with long brown hair stared at the man in front of her with her mouth hanging wide open, revealing her pearly white teeth. Realizing that he was there as a customer, she recovered herself slightly and offered Lin a flirty smile.

"Hello _sir," _She began, leaning forward so that her cleavage strained against her white Creston Hotel shirt, "if there is _anything _at all that I can do for you, please do not hesitate to ask," Lin didn't acknowledge her obvious come on's in any way.

"I need a room with at least two beds, preferably on the bottom floor," He said, turning around slightly to look over his shoulder at Naru, who had not moved. The receptionist followed his gaze to the unconscious teenager that she had seen the taller man carry inside the lobby and place on the couch.

"Is your friend over there alright?" She asked finally, drawing Lin's attention back to her. The Onmyouji nodded, quickly coming up with a more believable excuse for his charge's unconscious state in his head.

"He was invited to a party with alcohol, and it appears that he had too much to drink. I thought it better to allow him to rest up here than to transport him home in this condition," The receptionist nodded, and pressed a few keys on the computer in front of her.

"I have a room that fits all of you requirements with the addition of a day bed- sound good to you, sir?" Truth be told, the room sounded perfect- Lin had originally asked for a two bed room, as he had not intended to sleep while staying at the hotel (his shiki despised new places, and became very restless when exposed to new environments), however, Lin now felt like he would need to rest to be able to function the next morning; it had been a very long day for him, and the Onmyouji had began to feel the effects. He had intended for Mai to have a separate bed from Noll, however now Mai could take the day bed and he the one originally meant for her.

"We'll take it," He replied simply, placing a hand on Mai's shoulder to steady her; the young brunette had closed her eyes, and very nearly fallen asleep on her feet. The receptionist chuckled brightly, her gaze traveling to where Mai stood at Lin's side.

"Seems like you need to get your daughter to bed, she looks half dead on her feet," She smirked, causing Mai to blush. Lin shook his head at Mai, as if silently telling her not to worry about the woman in front of them. Mai huffed, but nodded her head in agreement. "May I please have your name and credit card information, sir?"

"My name is Lin Koujo, however I will be paying with cash, so would you mind telling me now much the bill for one night will be?" Lin asked, pulling out a black leather wallet from the pocket of his dress pants.

"One hundred and sixty dollars Mr. Lin. But for a little extra, I could come up to the room with you, if you want me to," She offered, leaning forward and placing a hand on Lin's arm. He stiffened slightly and turned a steely gray gaze onto her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? Aren't there regulations in place prohibiting this kind of behavior towards customers? Do you want to lose your job _that_ badly?" He asked, a more than slightly perceptible edge of anger in his voice.

"No sir, I apologize for my behavior I didn't mean to-" She began, however Lin would have none of it. His mood had been foul since he had learned of Lifen's disappearance, however he had managed to keep his behavior civil. But this receptionist had grated on his very last nerve.

"I came here to get a damn room, not to picked up by the receptionist. Now if you wouldn't mind doing your job, the girl beside me is exhausted , and I've had a _very _long day myself." The receptionist's eyes widened, and she appeared as if she were about to cry, however, she held her hand out towards Lin, and he handed her the money he owed for the room. She took it with a jerk of her wrist, making sure that her skin did not contact his.

"You're room number is seventeen, here's your card key. If you intend to stay until breakfast, it will be served at seven a.m. Please enjoy your stay at the Creston," Lin nodded and grabbed the key out of her hand, then promptly spun around towards the couch that he had laid Naru on. The paranormal researcher had not stirred at all since Lin had placed him there, though his breathing was steady.

Lin scooped him up into his arms and handed Mai the card key to room seventeen. She took it from his hand and slipped into the pocket of her jeans. Lin nodded to her and proceeded to carry Naru out of the lobby and down the hallway.

Their room was the seventeenth on the left side of the long hallway. Mai stood in front of Lin and clicked int the key, then pushed the door open. She stood over to the edge so that Lin could push past her and into the suite. Once inside, Lin approached the bed to the left of the room and placed his charge on it, then covered him with the light brown comforter. Naru stirred slightly, a slight groan escaping him, however his blue eyes did not open.

Lin turned towards Mai to ask if she would mind taking the day bed so he could have the larger bed to the right of of Naru's, however, the brunette had already crawled into the smaller bed and appeared to have fallen asleep.

Lin smirked slightly before making his way towards the vacant bed opposite of Noll's. Reaching it, Lin unfastened his belt and loosened his tie, then removed his shoes and shirt. When he was finished, he placed the discarded items on the table to the left of his bed, and laid down on the soft mattress. Pulling the covers over himself, he focused his gaze on the wall directly in front of his bed. All of the sudden, after blinking, a young girl appeared in his field of vision. But not just _any _girl. It was Lifen. Lin stared at his sister with narrowed gray eyes.

Lifen stared back at Lin, her deep blue eyes, with just a hint of the gray of his own left eye, were slightly wide and panicked looking. Her clothing- a shirt that appeared to have been purple but was now caked with mud, and a pair of jeans, were tattered almost beyond recognition. Her long black hair was disheveled- something that Lin _knew _for a fact was of no fault of her own, as she had always taken great lengths to keep her hair, her self proclaimed 'best feature', looking it's best. Upon closer inspection, Lin realized that she had bruises going up her exposed arms, as the flesh there was almost completely purple, and a slight trail of blood leaked down her face from a gash in her cheek- it appeared as though she had been punched or bashed with a blunt object. Anger, fierce and unbridled made Lin clench his fist as he sat up in bed.

Though Lifen shook her head 'no', as if silently telling him not to come any closer. Lin backed down, though his dark gaze was on fire. He wanted to hunt down the bastard who had done this to Lifen and make them _suffer_\- to feel every miniscule amount of pain that they had caused her in tenfold. Lin knew that when he got his hands on the culprit, no one would be able to make him show any form of mercy. Not that he would have anyway- one of the worst mistakes that anyone could make was going after someone's family, especially when they had as strong bonds as Lin had with his only sister.

Lifen smiled, though the expression was full of pain as the stretching of her skin aggravated the gash on her cheek. Lin's blood boiled as he watched her, so clearly trying to be strong for him, but failing so miserably. The normally strong, independent and brave girl looked like she had been forced through the ringer, time and time again. Her eyes had never before appeared so dull, nor so humorless. It would have physically hurt Draidyan, the brother whose dry humor she had inherited, to see the younger sister whom he had trained exceptionally well to understand jokes, as listless as she was and without any form of merit. Lin internally cringed as the thought made him mentally compare the image of Lifen from his last visit to China, to the battered version of her that he was seeing now. It almost didn't register on the furious Onmyouji how much suffering must have been inflicted on her.

Noticing her brother's enraged gaze trained on her, Lifen allowed her smile to fade, then opened her mouth as if to speak. Lin did not expect any words to come out, but was shocked when they did.

"Koujo," _Lifen_ said, the word sounding painful as she forced it out of her dry throat, "don't give me that look- I'm alright," Lin sucked in a sharp breath and stared at his sister as if she had lost her mind, and in a way, he wondered is she _had_. _Alright? _He thought to himself vehemently, _I would hardly call bleeding and beaten alright. _Although_ h_e didn't say that aloud, simply stared at her with an eyebrow raised. Taking the hint, Lifen sighed.

"It's really not as bad as it looks- I can hardly feel any of it. Honestly, It could be worse," Lin flinched at her words, causing Lifen's expression to change. She had seemed to realize that none of her statement would have reassured her brother, who had known her since she was little- he would have been able to see through any of his sibling's facades; she was of no exception.

"Don't you _dare _lie to me, Lifen. I'm not as dense as you seem to take me for. Far from it, in fact. I have _eyes. _One may be blind, but the other is plenty good enough to see the cuts and bruises all over your body. You are _far_ from fine. Don't pretend otherwise," Lin vented, his tone clipped and his words sounding as though they had been forged from the fire of his intense anger. Lifen's face fell and she looked away, the tightness of her jaw was not lost on Koujo. He knew all too well that she was trying to prevent herself from breaking down in tears.

"What do you want me to do, Koujo? I can cry, I can yell or pray. But its not going to get me out of here," Lifen said, still not looking at Lin. Her voice sounded thick with tears, though Lin's mind was unable to process that fact fully as one thing his sister had said set him off. 'Its not going to get me out of here_'_ She had said 'here', as if she were still in the place where she had been taken after being kidnapped or whatever had happened, and not present in the hotel room with him. It was in that moment of shock that Lin realized that this was not real, and he had to be dreaming Lifen was not in the room with him, the visage of her was just his subconscious being unusually cold and playing tricks on him in his saddened emotional state. When he woke up, Lifen would not be at the foot of his bed.

Lifen seemed to notice the change in Koujo's expression, as she sighed deeply.

"Koujo, I know that you think that this is just a dream- I don't blame you for that. I shouldn't have taken advantage of the fact that you fell asleep to get in contact with you, but I had not other choice." Lin heard her words, but his mind refused to believe them. What she was telling him just didn't add up.

"What you're telling me is that you Astral Projected yourself into my dreams. Believable under normal circumstances, however, Lifen does not possess the skill of Astral Projection," He countered, closing his eyes in frustration.

"You're not thinking clearly, apparently. I know that you are aware that under extreme emotional stress, a person's consciousness can detach itself from the body, without the individual having prior knowledge of how to do so. Koujo, _you're _the one who taught me that," Lin opened his eyes, fully prepared to tell his sister off, but to his surprise, Lifen was no longer standing in front of the bed, nor was Naru laying in the bed beside his own, or Mai sleeping in the day bed beside the table that had the television sitting on it.

Realizing this, Lin's heart was beating furiously as got out of bed, and glanced around the now evidently empty room. His pulsed raced as he sent a command to his shiki to manifest. None appeared. The startled Onmyodo waited for another minute, however, not one of his five shiki were present. Unsure of what to do, Lin made his way towards the bathroom, the door on the left of the entryway to the hotel room. The door was closed, so Lin pushed it open, and entered the white paneled room.

He saw a tall figure standing in front of the mirror on the farthest end of the bathroom from him. The sound of water running was coming from the sink- a detail that Lin had missed prior to entering the restroom. And there was something else unusual- there was a slight scent of something metallic in the air. Lin knew that he recognized the smell, however, his mind refused to reconcile with the memories of where he'd smelled it before.

Lin stared at the back of the figure's head, before noticing something that made his blood run cold. It had black hair, the same shade as his own, to be precise. Lin stopped dead in his tracks as the figure, whose back was to him, began turning around to face him. At that moment, Lin's head had begun to pound, almost as bad as it had the day before back at the office.

Lin's breath caught in his throat as he was met with one gray eye, and one blue eye, identical to his own. And a face that looked just like his, only caked in blood, and with a sadistic smile painted across _his_ lips. The mouth moved, and exposed teeth, normally white, which now appeared to be stained red. The look alike laughed, a shrill, blood curdling noise so different from Lin's normal one. It took a step towards its counterpart, who had raised his hands in front of chest in an attempt to ward _himself _off. Suddenly, the look alike stopped moving forward, and stopped smiling. It raised its own hand, and Lin saw something that made his stomach churn.

The other Lin was holding a golden necklace with diamonds spanning the length of it. To others, it might have looked like any other necklace, but to Lin, it was like looking at a ghost. Lifen's necklace, the one that she normally wore all the time, and the one that Lin had apparently not registered that she wasn't wearing when he had previously seen her in his 'dream', looked just like the one handing loosely from the figure's hand.

Lin stared up into his adversary's face, and was met with a cold smile, and expression that he could never remember making with his own face. The figure opened its mouth, and uttered a single, bloodcurdling sentence.

"_You did this to her." _

Lin shot up in bed, nearly knocking over the lamp on the table as the force rocked the bed frame. His heart was racing at a pace that could not have been healthy, and his breath was coming out in forced pants. The Onmyouji closed his eyes, and held his head in his hands, which he realized, were shaking uncontrollably. He tried to stop them from moving, all to no avail. His head no longer hurt, however, his thoughts, normally so calm and collected, were in turmoil. Questions, so many damn questions, flashed through his mind, and he flinched behind tightly closed eyes. _What did I just see? Was that really Lifen, or was that just my mind playing tricks on me? Why- why was I holding her necklace? Am I somehow the responsible for her disappearance? _Lin didn't have an answer to any of those questions, though he knew one thing for sure; if any part of his dream had been true, then the situation was indeed dire.


	3. Chapter 3: Repercussions

A/N I notice that in some places you might see the word 'him' rather than 'lin' I accidentally did this while using word search during editing. It'll be fixed later. I apologize for the inconvenience.

Lin: Sierra doesn't own Ghost Hunt

Sierra: If I did, you would have been much more vocal.

Lin: *just stares at me*

The situation centering around Lifen had become dire indeed if anything that her older brother, Koujo Lin, had saw in his 'dreams', was to be trusted. The aforementioned Onmyouji had not moved from his position on the hotel bed where he had previously fallen asleep. His heart still beat furiously from within his chest cavity, and his breath still came out in ragged pants. His hands had stopped shaking some, however, there was still a slight tremor as the shock began to abate. In all honesty, he was _terrified _that what he had just seen was true. Was he the cause of this mess? Lin didn't know for certain, and truth be told, he'd rather not have to find out if he was somehow linked. Thankfully, a voice tore him out of his reverie.

"Bad dream?" The question came from Lin's left, and hung in the air for a moment. It was Noll, who had apparently awoken from his earlier excursion.

"More or less," Lin replied, turning his head and casting a glance in his charge's direction. Oliver's face appeared paler than usual in the dimness of the room, and his blue eyes were partially closed, his hand was placed loosely on his stomach; the teenager didn't look well at all to his stoic guardian.

"Oliver, you look like you aren't feeling particularly well," he said offhandedly, though the concern was evident in his expression. Noll's eyes popped open, and he lifted them up to meet his bodyguard's gaze, as if pondering the question directed at him carefully.

"I feel slightly sick to my stomach- nothing unusual. It often happens when I use my PK. As I don't remember coming into this hotel, I assume that I lost consciousness as well?" He asked, closing his eyes again. Lin's mind replayed the events of the night before, and his expression turned down into a slight scowl.

"Yes, you did. About that-" The Onmyodo began, but was cut off by a dark sigh from his charge.

"I know," Naru said, the two words spoken in a low, clipped sounding tone. Lin's gray eyes narrowed to slits; his patience seemed to have been sapped after the dream that he had just had- he was suppressing the shock of it, and it was making him wary. He did _not _have the sense of calm that he normally needed when dealing with Oliver.

"If you know what I'm going to say, then why the hell did you use your psychometry? What kind of logic did you apply when you decided that it would be a good idea to do something that you knew could injure you, or worse yet, kill you?" he asked, surprised with the obvious anger that could be heard in his voice. Naru raised an eyebrow, expressing his own shock that Lin had actually gotten sharp with him- he was used to the familiar scolding after he did something that his bodyguard did not approve of, however, he had never heard his assistant take on such a harsh tone.

"I wanted to know what Mai had saw- Believe it or not, I _have_ had times when using my PK didn't leave me in an unconscious state. I did not realize that doing so this time would cause that reaction in my body," Naru replied, clutching his stomach tighter as the sense nausea he was feeling intensified. Noticing the action, Lin stared at his charge and shook his head in disapproval.

"Fine, we can talk about this later- it appears as though you could use more time to recuperate, and I could use some more rest myself," The Onmyodo stated, his gray gaze meeting Naru's blue one. The narcissist's eyes become wide, and his features more pale. He stood up from his bed unexpectedly, before making his way towards the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him.

Lin sighed as a memory of a time early in Oliver's training of learning Quigong, when he had accidentally used his PK, and vomited right as Luella had walked into the living room. The motherly onslaught had been epic, as she had not understood what had been ailing her son. The Onmyouji was just grateful that Oliver was old enough to realize that he was going to be sick, and quick enough to get to the bathroom this time- he did not want to have to be the one who had to call Martin to give him the bill for the carpet cleaners.

Although Naru was the cause of his own illness, as he had known that the use of his PK almost never went in his favor, Lin could still sympathize with him, as his charge had looked extremely unwell, even before seeming to feel the urge to throw up. Lin hadn't expected Noll to be sick when he awoke- that was not something that happened often, at least not to his knowledge. Although he would definitely prefer puking Oliver to 'heart has stopped and not breathing' Oliver. The former would be easier to care for than the latter.

At that moment, a groan sounded from the otherwise quite hotel room, and Lin looked up to see Mai staring at him. She blushed when she realized that the dark haired Onmyouji had noticed her staring, and the twenty-seven year old became aware of the fact that he was sitting up in bed uncovered, shirtless. With a sigh, he reached over to the bedside table where he had left his black button up shirt, and slipped his arms into it. He swung his long legs over the side of the bed and buttoned the article of clothing, then turned his head towards Mai, who met his gaze, the blush no longer present on her cheeks.

"Where's Naru?" The brunette asked, worry present in here brown eyes. Lin stared at her for a moment, choosing his words carefully, before replying.

"Bathroom," He stated simply, deciding to see if Mai understood before divulging any unnecessary details. The teen raised an eyebrow, urging her colleague to continue.

"He's not feeling very well- it appears to be a side effect of using his PK. I'll admit that its not a common one to my knowledge, but his powers can cause near unpredictable reactions in his body." Mai's face turned sad upon hearing Lin's words.

"I want to go and stay with him, do you think he would yell at me if I tried?" The young girl asked, her voice sounding more innocent than usual. Lin thought about her question honestly- he knew how much that the girl cared about Naru, and felt like she deserved a truthful answer.

"At the moment, I'm almost positive that Noll doesn't feel like yelling, though I'm not sure if he feels like having company either," Lin began, pausing to gauge Mai's reaction. Her frown had turned into a sad stare, and was directed towards the bathroom. "So in all honesty, I cannot accurately tell you how he'll react, but I won't stop you from going to check on him. Actually, taking into account how he looked earlier, that might be a good idea," he finished, adding to his previous statement.

Mai turned her head back to her co-worker, and smiled at him sadly.

"Thanks Lin," She muttered before yawning and getting out of bed. The Onmyodo inclined his head towards her before relaxing back on his own bed. He closed his eyes warily, as he was still tired from the night before, and his not so restful slumber prior to waking up. He was not sure for how long he had been dozing when the sound of someone knocking on the door to the hotel room awoke him, but it could not have been too long as Oliver and Mai had not returned from the bathroom. Either that, or his charge was just that sick, but Lin highly doubted that as Naru hadn't eaten in several hours, and could not have had much in his stomach at the time he had gotten ill.

With a sigh of aggravation, the dark haired man stood up from his bed, and made his way to the hotel room door. He paused at the bathroom door, memories of his dream flashing through his mind, but no sounds could be heard from inside. _'I wonder if he's began feethe dark haired mang better?' _the dark haired man thought, then continued walking past the bathroom and then to the entrance of the room. He looked out through the peephole, and the person he saw on the other side of the door almost made him not want to open the door at all. However, for the sake of being polite, he did so anyway.

It was the receptionist from the night before- the one whom had tried flirting with Lin until the Onmyodo's agitation had gotten the better of him.

Realizing that the dark haired man had actually opened the door, the young woman smiled at him, though the expression appeared completely professional. There was none of the earlier flirtatiousness in her pale blue eyes.

"Good morning Mr. Lin," She said, her sweet voice sounding particularly gentle. Lin stared at her warily, before inclining his head politely in her direction.

"Hello Ms...," Lin said, allowing his voice to trail off, as he had not learned her name the night before, most likely due to his anger or sleep deprivation- or both. She smiled at him, although still only politely.

"My name is Hamasaki- Hamasaki Nacora, to be precise," Ms. Hamasaki replied, a slight smile gracing her lips. Lin nodded slightly, and allowed a tiny smile to appear on his face, in attempt to express that he was no longer angry due to their earlier encounter. Ms. Hamasaki smiled, seeming to take the hint that she was forgiven.

"I recall you mentioning that you're friend- the one who you carried into the lobby last night, was drunk enough to lose consciousness. I figured that he wouldn't be feeling very well this morning- I've gotten drunk plenty of times and know how it goes. How is he?" Hamasaki asked, genuine concern lighting up her expression.

Lin sighed warily, as his mind wandered back to his sick charge.

"You have very good intuition, Ms. Hamasaki. He's in the bathroom right now- I assume that you can guess the rest." him replied, watching as Ms. Hamasaki cringed slightly.

"Yes, believe me, I can. That's why I brought this," she began, holding up a box that looked to be of full of medicine, "it should make him feel better, maybe not completely, but I'm sure that it'll help." She added, holding the box out towards Lin, who took it gratefully.

"This is very generous, Ms.-" he tried to speak, but was cut off before he could finish his sentence.

"Please, you don't have to call me Ms. Hamasaki- it makes me feel old. Just call me Hamasaki, if you wouldn't mind." Lin quirked an eyebrow at the word 'old'. Hamasaki didn't look like she could be more than twenty, if that, in Lin's opinion. However, not being one to argue, he nodded in agreement.

"Fine, thank you for the medication, Hamasaki," Lin said, smiling slightly. In reality, he was _very _grateful for the pills- he had no way to make Oliver well otherwise, and they needed to think of a course of action- they could not live in the hotel forever. That would require his charge _not _feeling so nauseated that he did not want to speak.

Hamasaki smiled sweetly before holding out her hand for Lin to shake. The Onmyodo took it, squeezing it lightly. The pretty receptionist held his hand longer than appropriate. Lin quirked an eyebrow, and she smiled, still not releasing his hand.

"I'm curious, Mr. Lin. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?" She questioned, staring straight into Lin's eyes. The Onmyouji sighed, concerned that she still might be flirting with him, then saw no harm in answering- she didn't sound like she was coming onto him.

"I'm twenty-seven," he replied, his tone unsure. Hamasaki flinched slightly, a reaction utterly unanticipated by Lin.

"How old is the girl that came in with you- the one that I originally assumed was your daughter? " Hamasaki asked, her tone sounding unusually clipped. Lin also mentally noted that she released his hand at that moment.

"She's sixteen," He answered, his gaze unconsciously traveling behind him to the door that Mai and Naru still had not exited. Hamasaki's face fell, and she sighed.

"You like them young, then? You're a bit too old for her if you ask me," She stated, casting Lin an abashed look. The stoic Onmyodo head spun around, and sucked in a breath, utterly shocked.

"What the hell are you talking about? I don't have feelings for Mai!" He yelled, suddenly losing the ability to control the tone of his voice. "At least not like you're thinking- I'm not attracted to Mai." Hamasaki chuckled, and Lin glared, knowing damn well that nothing he had said was laughable.

"Your reaction, Mr. Lin. It was completely and utterly _disbelieving. _I believe you completely that you have no sexual feelings towards her, rather due to her age, or for other reasons," Hamasaki chuckled again, then smiled.

"In reality, I might be too old for you as well." Lin stared at her, his eyes as wide as saucers. Hamasaki smiled, a genuine unflirty smile.

"Mr. Lin, I'm thirty-three years old," Hamasaki replied, smiling at how Lin's jaw dropped slightly. Lin stared at her, then closed his mouth.

"You're actually my _senpai_?" He asked, disbelief coloring his words. Hamasaki grinned, and nodded.

"I actually am. I understand that I look younger than I appear- to tell you the truth, I often use that to my advantage. However, it seems that what I was trying to do didn't work with you. I wonder- do you have feelings for the boy that you carried in?" Hamasaki asked, a small smirk forming on her lips. Lin raised an eyebrow, and shook his head.

"No, I don't. He's my charge- I was hired by his parents as a bodyguard," The Onmyodo replied, shaking his head again. Hamasaki chuckled slightly.

"I see- so you don't have feelings for either of the people traveling with you; at least not romantic feelings, that is. To be quite frank with you, Mr. Lin, I have many more questions that I would like to ask you, however, I realize that I brought those pills so that you could make your charge feel better, and have kept you away from him." The receptionist replied, before backing away a few steps. Without saying goodbye, Hamasaki turned on her heel, and walked down the hall.

Koujo stared after her in confusion for a moment, before shaking his head and walking back inside the hotel room, closing the door behind him. He walked the few steps that it took to reach the door to the restroom, and knocked once on the wood. There was no answer from inside, so Lin sighed and pushed open the door. He walked across the white linoleum floors, forcing the feeling of dread that accompanied it down.

He glanced towards the right corner of the room, where he saw Mai, leaning against a wall with her head laid back on it, and Naru, who still looked pale, with has back to the toilet. He didn't turn around when Lin entered, however, his shoulders twitched in reaction. Mai looked up Lin and offered him a wary smile.

"He really just _feels _sick. I think that its been too long since he's eaten for there to be anything left to throw up." Lin nodded, and approached his charge and colleague.

"Oliver," He said, deep voice low. The teenager opened his eyes, and blinked rapidly to clear them, before focusing on his bodyguard's face. He didn't reply, but Lin could tell that he had his attention, "you're still not feeling any better? You've been in here for quite a while," he added, as Noll closed his eyes again.

"I still feel unwell to a certain degree, yes," Noll admitted warily, though he knew that he was lying through his teeth; he felt much more than slightly sick. However, he had never known how to show weakness to anyone, and Lin was no exception.

The Onmyodo sighed before walking over to the sink. He paused as memories assaulted him, and he grabbed the porcelain with the hand not holding the box of pills. He stood there for several minutes before he managed to calm down the pounding of his rapidly racing heart. Once the beats were normal again, he turned the nob of the sink, and grabbed the cup sitting beside it.

However, as soon as he saw what was really leaking out of the faucet, the beating of his heart amplified to an alarming rate. There was _blood, _bright red in color and metallic scented, pouring from the faucet and into the cup. Lin allowed the aforementioned to drop into the sink, as quickly as though he had been burned. The blood ran over his hand, and he stepped back, blinking rapidly.

When the Onmyouji opened his eyes, there was no blood on his hand- simply moisture from the water that was now pouring over the cup. Lin shook his head to clear it, not bothering to glance behind him at the teenagers, as he knew all too well that at least one had noticed his little episode.

He rinsed the cup off from where it had landed in the sink, then filled it with what most definitely appeared to be water thankfully, and not blood. Once the cup was filled, Lin cut off the water and and turned around, only to be met with Mai's concerned cinnamon eyes. The brunette said nothing, however, her eyes spoke the volumes of her worry.

Naru, however, was not paying attention it seemed. Lin was secretly grateful for the fact- he knew that at some point, he was going to have explain to Mai what had shocked him while he was filling the cup, but that could wait until later.

Lin approached his charge, who upon hearing his assistant's footsteps, had opened is cerulean blue eyes, and began looking in his direction. It was at that moment that he noticed the box of pills in Lin's hand, and raised a black eyebrow.

"What do you have in that box?" He asked, leaning his head back slightly to get a better view at what the Onmyodo was holding. Noticing this, Lin held the box in front of his chest, allowing his charge to get a better view at what the package entailed. After reading the words printed on the box, Naru raised his other brow as well.

"You think that this will help me feel well again?" He asked, uncertainty coloring his words. Lin shrugged slightly before reaching out towards him, allowing the raven haired teen to grab the cup before tearing off the end of the packaging of the medication, reading the drug facts, and, retrieving two of the white tablets from the box. He held them out to Noll, who took the white tablets in his own hand, before taking a swig of the water, and downing them.

Suddenly, he started to choke, as if he swallowed the pills and they had went down the wrong pipe, however, Lin could see the shock on Naru's face, and knew exactly why he was choking. The water had tasted metallic, like _blood. _

Jumping into action, Lin knelt down beside Noll and hit him on the back, pinning his shoulder behind him so that he would cease thrashing. Mai stared at her Boss wide eyed. Lin didn't trust the water in the tap enough to try and quite Oliver's cough with more, so it took several minutes before he was able to breath again. When the dark haired teen's coughing fit had ended, he stared at his bodyguard with an unreadable expression.

"Lin, what the hell was that?" Lin shook his head, though he could see it in Oliver's blue eyes that he was all to aware of what substance the water he had just drank tasted of. Naru wiped a hand across his mouth and sighed deeply before closing his eyes. He sat like that for several seconds before sighing and getting to his feet. He swayed slightly before turning on his heel and leaving the bathroom.

Mai met Lin's gaze warily as the normally stoic Onmyouji rose to his full height and offered a hand to help her up. She took it, regaining her own footing before lowering her head.

"What's going on, Lin?" She asked, still not looking at her coworker. The dark haired Onmyodo could hear the tears she was fighting back prominently in her voice, much like had been able to hear the unshed tears in Lifen's voice when she had appeared to him the night before. Lin forced the thought down before sighing and rubbing his temple where a slight headache had began to pulse.

"I have no clue what is happening here. Naru thought that getting away from the office would protect us from what you saw," He said, swallowing as memories of the dream where he had saw _himself _coated in blood and holding Lifen's necklace flashed through his mind. "But apparently, we were followed here." He added, his dark eyes scanning the white panneled bathroom. He found nothing out of the ordinary, however, he still felt...uneasy. He recognized it as being the same sensation that he had felt upon leaving Shibuya Psychic Research the day before, but he did not know exactly what was bringing on the feeling.

In reality, it didn't matter to Lin why he felt ill at ease- he had learned to trust his instincts, and if they were tellling him that something was off, he knew that he'd do damn well to trust them. So he didn't doubt that something was lurking somewhere, watching him. His dream had taught him tha he wasn't safe- not even from _himself._

Lin shook his head again to clear it, then met Mai's gaze. The young brunnette was staring at him with an unusual look in her eyes. The Onmyodo quirked an inquiring eyebrow, and the girl looked down towards the bathrrom floor.

"Lin, you said, 'it seems we were followed', does that mean that you..." Mai began, still not meeting her coworker's eyes. However, the dark haired Onmyodo was all too aware of the question that hung in the air between them. _Had he saw his look alike?_ And the brutal truth of the matter was that he had indeed laid eyes on someone who seeme to be just like him in appearance, but so different from him in personality.

Lin did not want to have to be honest with Mai about seeing his unsettling counterpart, however, he knew that scaring her was far better than leading her into a false sense of security. He looked towards the sink again, a feeling of dread ecompassing his mind, but nonetheless, he did the enevitable.

"I saw...myself in a dream or a vision. I was covered in blood and," The Onmyouji began, then paused as he remembered the familar necklace with the 'L' charm dangling from the chain, the necklace that had such sentimental value to Lifen that she would never had been willingly separated from it. Lin swallowed, and decided to keep that detail to himself, "I believe that what you saw at the office was the same as what I saw here, hence why I said that we were followed," he admitted.

Mai looked up and met Lin's gaze then; he brown eyes were wide, as if she were afraid, however, the twenty-seven year old also noticed a fierce determination in her expression.

"Whatever this thing is, I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out- we always have, have't we?" Mai asked, and Lin couldn't help but give her a small smile- the young girl's confidence in their abilities was mildly refreshing to the stressed out Onmyouji.

"Indeed we have," He said with a light chuckle before turning on his heel and exiting the bathroom. When he came back into the main area of the hotel room, he saw Oliver sitting on his bed, legs hanging off the side and head cocked to the side. He seemed to be talking softly to someone. It was at that moment Lin realized that his charge was on the phone.

He strained his ears to hear what the raven haired teen was muttering, however, the pitch of Naru's voice was too soft, and he couldn't make out the words. He resigned himself to wait until the parnormal researched had finished his call to find out what was going on. A minute or so later, he heard the door to the bathroom open, and Mai stepped out of the bathroom and came up behind him, curiosity filling her expression. She touched Lin's arm lightly, and he turned his attention his young coworker, shrugging as he saw her hand pointing towards Naru. She sighed impatiently, relinquishing her hold on his arm, and walked to her bed, taking a seat and staring towards her boss.

It took several minutes, then finally as Lin felt his patience slipping away and began making his way towards his own bed, Noll's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"I just got off the phone with Takigawa, Father Brown, and Ms. Matsuzaki along with Ms. Hara and Yasuhara," the teen began, lowering his cellphone away from his ear and meeting his guardian's gaze. "They'll be meeting us at the office early tomorrow morning. I believe that recent events, including the disappearance of your sister, call for investigating. It has become quite clear to me that we are dealing with paranormal phenomenon." He stated, and paused, waiting for a response from Lin who blinked, and nodded.

"Agreed. We'll head back to the office later on today. It seems it doesn't matter _where _we are, whatever it is that we're dealing with seems to have the ability to bother us whereever we are." Naru sat still for a moment, pondering his next words.

"There's something else," He replied simply, his cerualean blue gaze meeting Lin's ash gray one. The Onmyouji quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, prompting his charge to continue. Naru moved his gaze towards Mai before finishing. "I called Madoka as well. I believe that we could use her...experience in the field of paranormal research."

Lin wanted to disagree- wanted to say that they didn't need the pinkette's help, however, he realized that what they were dealing with was _dangerous_. It seemed to be able to manipulate a person's senses, causing them to see, smell, and _taste_ what it wanted them to. Not to mention that if whatever had manipulated his and Naru's sense was one in the same with the look alike of himself, they were dealing with something that could copy someone's identity.

He would rather Madoka stay safe in England, as she seemed to not realize how dangerous actually being on a case with the the phenomenon she researched could be, but he knew that they would need her help to find what the source of their problems was.

One thing that the Onmyouji knew for certain was that with all of the irregulars of Shibuya Psychic Research's team together under one roof, the next day's events would give him a migraine for sure.

A/N I hope you liked the ending- you should see all of the remaining members of Shibuya Psychic Research soon, as well as everyone's favorited pink haired lady, Madoka. Read and Review. Also, for those of you who didn't like Ms. Hamasaki, don't write her off yet- her part of this story may not be finished. On a different note, I apologize to those who are fans of everyone's favorite narcissist, for making him ill in this chapter.


	4. Chapter 4: Sleeping on the Job

A/N I have to apologize for the long wait for this chapter. For some reason, it was an incredible struggle to get this chapter out, though I am now proud to present it. I realize that there has been a lack of action thus far, though I must ask that you bear with me- there will be more action later in the story. At the moment, I am mostly focusing on building up the tension round what is targeting Lin. I should also apologize for the length of this chapter- it is larger than the past chapters, though I hope you will find it worth it. Read and review, if you will.

It was 10:30 a.m. Koujo Lin and his charge Naru, along with co-worker Mai were preparing to leave the Creston hotel and head back to Shibuya Psychic Research building, Their plan was to meet with the rest of the Irregulars of SPR's main paranormal investigative team. Oliver had called them earlier that morning on the claim that he had come across a serious case. He'd hadn't spared the details of Lifen's disappearance, or his his encounter upon tasting the water in the tap. However, he had not included the information regarding Lin's look alike, believing it better for the Irregulars to hear it from the Onmyouji himself. Though he _had _conveyed some of the dangers of the case to his team, and made absolutely certain that they knew that the situation was _urgent_, and he needed to meet with them all as soon as possible.

Despite the abruptness of the summoning, each of the Irregulars had agreed to to heed Naru's request of meeting, albeit with irritated complaints from Ayako about how "Her beauty could not be rushed." On another note, Madoka would be flying in from England later on in the day, and was expecting Lin to pick her up from the airport once her flight arrived.

The tall, dark eyed man had no qualms with heading out to retrieve the pinkette; in actuality, he would prefer being around the sweet Madoka rather than the bickering Monk and Ayako, the prankster Yasuhara, or the moody Masako. Now that he thought about it, it seemed that John was the _only __one of the Irregulars _other than the aforementioned Madoka that Lin could bear being around for prolonged periods of time.

However, the stoic Onmyouji was also full aware of much of a handful that Madoka could be; she, with her carefree attitude, seemed to be immune to the fear often associated with her line of work. She seemed to dissociate herself from the fact that her life could be in jeopardy every time she entered the field of investigating a case linked to paranormal phenomenon.

Though once everything was said and done, the pinkette still had some type of expertise that could prove useful to saving Lifen, and handling the look alike of Lin. The twenty-seven year old wasn't stubborn enough to deny that they knew next to no facts regarding their current case. Any help offered should be taken, as well as appreciated.

"Lin, Mai and I are ready to leave," A voice announced suddenly. Koujo turned towards the voice, and was met with the blue gaze of Noll, who was holding his cellphone in his right hand, "Monk and the rest of the lot should be arriving at the SPR building any moment now." Nodding his understanding, the stoic bodyguard slipped the card key to the hotel room out of his black pants pocket.

"In that case, we shall depart shortly," He replied in response to his charge's earlier admission. Gesturing with his hand towards the door, Lin made his way towards it with the two teenagers in his company trudging along behind him. As they walked, Oliver changed his pace to match that of his bodyguard's, while Mai stayed behind, a dreary look on her face. Lin assumed that she was worried about what he had told her in the bathroom earlier that morning.

Sighing, the Onmyouji turned his head towards his charge and asked him a question that suddenly sprang to his mind- in the chaos of the day before, he had forgotten to inquire for the answer.

"Noll, what was it that saw in your psychometric vision?" Naru stiffened at the question, before relaxing his tensed shoulders and walking ahead of Lin. After a moment, he glanced back over his shoulder, an odd look in his blue eyes.

"I didn't _see _anything. But I felt; pain and anger, more overwhelming then anything I've ever experienced. It was...disorienting, to say the least," The paranormal researcher paused, then sighed before speaking again. "I can't explain it, but the intensity of those emotions was unreal."

Koujo, not knowing exactly how to respond to this admission, simply nodded his head in understanding before continuing his walk towards the main lobby of the hotel. Several seconds passed before Naru spoke again.

"By the way, I also did some research of my own regarding your sister's disappearance. We, of course, are going to conduct our own investigation in the hopes of determining her whereabouts. The reason I bring up the matter in the first place is that when you first received the phone call you, most likely due to the trauma, failed to mention to me whether or not Hong Kong's police department was investigating her disappearance. As far as I can discern from the information that they were willing to divulge to me, they are presently investigating leads as to where your sister might be, but no new developments have been made at this point in time. I just thought that I'd pass that along to you."

Stunned, the dark-haired man paused mid-step and turned his head towards Noll, who continued walking ahead. Catching onto the fact that Naru wasn't going to cease in his walking, Lin darted forward and matched his pace with that of his charge's, all the while leaving Mai in the dust as she drearily trudged along behind them.

Breathing in a brief sigh of annoyance that Oliver had not included this in his prior report, Lin asked the dark-haired teenager the question that had began to plague his mind.

"Noll, how exactly where you able to persuade the Hong Kong police department to converse with you about details concerning a missing person? They're normally quite sensitive about those things, as I'm sure you're aware."

"I'm well aware of how the police normally react to questioning, however, I went through the family route- which made it much more simple," Oliver conceded, causing his bodyguard's eyebrows to furrow in moderate confusion.

"'Family route'? Would you mind telling me what exactly you're referring to?" Lin asked, genuine confusion in his voice. The paranormal researcher walking beside him rolled his eyes, as if the answer to his assistant's inquiry was the most simple thing in the world.

"What I meant by 'family route' is that I called a member of your family- I believe it was your brother Lukida, if I remember correctly, and asked him to contact the police department in my stead, to plead with them to grant me permission to be allowed into to the 'inner circle' of their investigation, so to speak. They were much more lenient with a member of the victim's immediate family, and your brother's request was fulfilled."

"How did you know to call Lukida in the first place, Oliver?" Lin asked as Naru walked a few paces ahead of his bodyguard.

"First of all, I have your cellphone in my possession," The British researcher admitted, reaching into his left pants pocket and retrieving Lin's sleek gray phone. "I picked it up after you stormed out of SPR's reception room yesterday morning. I checked through your speed dial, going on the whim that the contacts listed there would be people close to you, and as expected- I was correct," He finished, before ceasing his walking momentarily and throwing Koujo his phone. Lin caught it and flipped it over to reveal the screen, which to his surprise, was completely intact- he had expected it to be at least _somewhat _damaged from its fall, however, the device seemed perfectly fine.

Mentally berating himself for not being in the emotional condition to find out whether or not cops had been investigating Lifen's disappearance for himself, Lin turned around to face Mai, who had yet to speak in the several minutes that he had Naru had been conversing. The brunette met his gaze, then looked at the ground. Lin took this as a sign that something had began to bother the teenager.

"Mai, is everything alright? You've been unusually….quite," The twenty-seven year old commented. Mai raised her head up again and quickened her pace slightly as her coworker began walking again, so that she was meeting Koujo's strides as they neared the Creston's main lobby. It took her a few seconds, but finally, the girl seemed to find the will to speak what was on her mind.

"I've been….thinking about your sister." The Onmyouji's eyes widened, though his demeanor remained seemingly calm and at ease.

"Oh? For what purpose?" He asked nonchalantly enough that Mai did not detect the current of emotions that flooded him at the mention of his younger sister.

"What if her going missing _does _have something to do with what keeps following us? What if it took her because she's a girl? Wouldn't that...put me at risk too?" Mai asked, her hands beginning to shake in terror.

Koujo, not knowing what else to do, glanced towards Naru and realized that thankfully, his charge had stopped walking and was now eying Mai with a black brow furrowed.

"You believe that Lin's counterpart, for lack of a better term, has kidnapped his sister and will do the same to you simply for the sake that you're a female?" The raven haired teen questioned, sounding slightly perplexed as he did so.

"I don't know, Naru- I'm just afraid that something bad is going to happen," Mai admitted, tears beginning to well in her large, cinnamon colored eyes. Noticing this, Naru scoffed in annoyance.

"You're such an idiot, Mai. If anything comes after you, Lin and I will protect you. There's no reason for you to cry about it," The Narcissist admonished, shaking his head in minor annoyance. Mai wiped at the tears steadily collecting in her eyes, then blinked rapidly several times to disperse the remainder of the moisture.

"I know, but what if it hurts one of you?" She inquired, meeting the eyes of her boss, who sighed.

"Don't worry about that at the moment- we'll figure it out when and if the time comes. Let's just focus on getting to the office for now," The seventeen year old replied, placing a hand on his younger assistant's back and urging her in front of him with a slight push. He met Lin's gaze over his shoulder, and Koujo nodded, walking on ahead.

After a few more seconds of walking in peaceful silence, the trio came to the main lobby of the Creston hotel. Hamasaki sat at the reception desk, a magazine clutched in her hands. She looked up when she heard her customers enter, and cast a warm smile in their direction.

"I'm glad to see you conscious," She said, directing her statement towards Naru, who nodded.

"Yes, I'm fine now."

"Glad to hear it, though you might want to be more careful next time you go out drinking. Circumstances like last night's can be avoided," Hamasaki stated with a light chuckle. Oliver cringed at her words as he mentally put the pieces of what the receptionist was implying together in his head. He cast a furious glance in his bodyguard's direction before turning back towards Hamasaki. The researcher didn't see the small smirk that formed on Lin's face, and dissipated just as quickly.

"I'm going to go on a whim and ask whether or not you were the one who provided Lin with the medication he gave me earlier this morning?" Noll asked, smoothing a hand through his black hair. Hamasaki smiled and nodded.

"I was, and as you being here represents, it seems to have done it's job."

"Yes, it did quite well, I was feeling much better very shortly after taking it. I greatly appreciate your generosity," The teen stated agreeably, "though my assistants and I do have somewhere to be very soon, so we'd like to check out and depart from the hotel, as soon as it is of convenience for you," He added.

"Of course, I just need your room key back, and you'll be good to go," Hamasaki declared, holding out her hand. Lin stepped forward and handed over the card key. Nacora placed her magazine down and took it before pressing a few buttons on the laptop in front of her. "You three are free to leave now. I hope you enjoyed your stay at the Creston." Lin began to walk towards the exit, when Hamasaki's voice caught his attention once more.

"Ah, Mr. Lin, before you leave I'd like to give you my phone number, just in case you ever need me for anything in the future," the woman said, quickly jotting something down on a business card that she had pulled out of the holder beside her computer. She held out the card to Lin, who took it and placed it in his pants pocket.

"Simply for the sake of curiosity, what circumstance do you think will come into play where I will ever need to call you again, Ms. Hamasaki?" The Onmyouji asked, quirking an eyebrow as he stared at the receptionist. Hamasaki casually shook her head in response.

"I don't know for sure, Mr. Lin- but you never know what might happen in the future. I could be a valuable asset to you at some point," the receptionist stated cryptically, before turning her attention back to her laptop. Lin took that as his cue to leave, and headed towards the revolving doors where Mai and Naru had paused, waiting for him to catch up.

Noll raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but asked his guardian no questions. The stoic bodyguard was glad for this- he had not idea of what he'd tell his charge if his curiosity had gotten the better of him. Normally, he would have been forced to worry about whether or not Mai would ask questions, however, the brunette seemed to be caught in the same dreary mood as she had bee earlier.

Lin glanced in her direction, hoping to catch the young girl's eye. He did, and gave her a half-smile in an attempt to calm some of her fears. Mai smiled back, though there was little joy in the expression: she was genuinely afraid of what was to come. The realization of that fact put a minor damper on Lin's mood- if a bubbly and typically unafraid person like Mai was so terrified of their current predicament, what did that say about their situation?

The dark haired man shook his head, forcing himself to think past depressing thoughts- he and his two companions had a long day ahead of them, and would need his full attention. Lifen would need him to be at his best if they were to save her in time. Before his 'dream' came true.

Pushing his distraction aside, Koujo followed Naru as he walked to the SPR van, still parked outside of the Creston hotel.

The Onmyouji unlocked the door to the driver's side of the car, and situated himself inside, then hit the unlock switch under his window to allow Mai and Noll access to the vehicle. Within seconds, both teenagers were buckled in and ready to head back to the SPR building to meet the Irregulars.

It took thirty minutes for Lin to drive from the Creston hotel to Shibuya Psychic Research. By the time that the dark-haired man was pulling into the parking lot of the business, both Naru and Mai had dosed off.

The twenty-seven year old reached over towards his charge and shook his shoulder lightly.

"Noll, we're back at the office," the dark-eyed man said, his voice low. With a groan, Naru sat up straight on the seat, then glanced into the back where his sleeping assistant laid.

"Mai, we've arrived back at the office- get up," The teen spoke in a low tone, before turning back towards Lin. "Are the other members of the irregular's here yet?"

Lin nodded.

"Yes, I believe so. Shall we go inside to meet them?" Lin asked. In the way of an answer, Naru unbuckled his seat belt and opened the passenger side door, the proceeded to exit the van. Lin grabbed the keys out of the ignition before doing the same. By this time, Mai had sat up, yawning tiredly, and gathered her bearings before following suit.

Lin led the way into the building, pausing in the entryway just before the door for a moment before opening it. A light breeze fluttered out towards him as he did so, similar to the breeze that he had felt the night before just after walking out of his office upon hearing about his supposed look alike. The black haired man pushed the thought aside before entering the reception room of Shibuya Psychic Research.

Inside, situated on the couch and chairs littering the spacious room, sat the members of SPR's main paranormal investigative team. On the side of the couch closest to the door sat Houshou Takigawa, more commonly referred to as Monk. Houshou was, as his nickname implied, a Buddhist monk and rock star with long, blonde hair pulled tightly back in a ponytail and mischievous hazel eyes. The monk was roughly six foot four- considerably tall, though not rivaling Lin's own six foot eight height. Sitting directly to Monk's left was Ayako Matsuzaki, the self proclaimed Shrine Maiden with long red hair and darker red-brown eyes. Both features could easily signify the fiery temper possessed by her.

Standing along the wall staring out the large window of the office was Masako Hara- a celebrity medium with short black hair and ocean blue eyes. She appeared to be deep in thought- most likely trying to use her psychic abilities to attempt to sense the spirit that was causing all of the unusual phenomenon.

And finally, sitting in a chair with his legs propped up on the coffee table directly situated in front of the couch, was Yasuhara, whose name was normally abbreviated to simply 'Yasu'. Yasuhara was a college student and one of SPR's most reliable sources of information, under Madoka herself. With short black hair, intelligent gray eyes and big glasses, Yasu was the epitome of the college student stereotype.

The only two members of the Irregulars who were not accounted for at the gathering were Father Brown, whose flight from Australia would be arriving the next day, and Madoka, whose flight from Britain had yet to come in.

Lin glanced around the room at his associates that were present, looking away each time one of them caught his eye. It was painstakingly obvious that Naru had disclosed the fact that his sister was missing, as there was an air of sympathy in the gazes of each of the irregulars. It only made Lin more aware of the reality of the situation- something that he'd rather not be reminded of.

The tension in the room became a palpable thing- no one seemed to be willing to speak until Naru coughed to break the silence. He walked past his bodyguard and took a seat in the chair situated at the backside of the coffee table in the center of the room. Mai followed him and wedged herself onto the couch in the middle of Monk and Ayako. Lin, sighing heavily, took his usual seat at his desk. Once everyone was settled, Naru spoke.

"As you've all been informed, recent events have proved quite possibly to be very dangerous. I've called you all in to aid in the investigation of this matter. You are to treat it as you would any other case," The paranormal researcher said, his eyes trained on Lin. The thinly veiled hidden meaning behind his words was not lost on the Onmyouji. '_Don't allow your personal attachments to interfere with your ability to focus',_ was the unspoken message directed at him_. _

Lin heard the message loud and clear, and tried to commit it to memory. Although it was painful to do so, he tried to push the fact that the victim of their investigation was his only sister far back into the recesses of his mind. Catching Naru's eye, the stoic bodyguard nodded curtly at his charge, who's face did not change from its expression of stoic impassiveness. Though this didn't matter- Lin had know Noll for a very long time, and knew that his understanding had been displayed to him efficiently.

Takigawa in his usual effort to relax the tension of the room, stretched his arms above his head before opening his eyes and allowing a small smirk to plaster his features.

"So, what do we know about this boogie man so far?" The Monk asked lightheartedly. Every gaze in the room turned to him in unison. The emotions in everyone present's eyes ranged from utter disbelief, to mild amusement, all the way to minor rage. Lin, felt a slight tinge of annoyance at the Monk's carefree attitude, though he could not bring himself to feel much more than that- he couldn't allow his feelings to hinder is focus.

He had to remain in control of his emotions, because if he controlled his emotions, then he could manipulate the situation. But the instant he allowed he allowed them to become unguarded would be the moment that he would be at his most vulnerable. He'd learned when he was much younger to never, _ever _allow himself to be vulnerable. He would not make the same mistakes that he'd made in the past- not this time.

Steeling himself, the Onmyouji mentally decided that it would best for the Irregulars to hear about his look-alike from his own mouth. Choosing his words carefully, Lin met the eyes of each of members of SPR's investigative team.

"We know that there is something out there that is seemingly capable of stealing every aspect of my identity. For instance, it appeared to Mai as a figure that she mistakenly thought was my own. Within a dream or a vision, I had a similar occurrence where I _heard _it talk- it was also able to fully mimic my speech patterns," Muted gasps escaped all present other than Mai and Naru, though Lin noticed Mai's already downcast expression become a tad bit darker. "we don't know much other than that. You're all advised to be on your guard and to never be alone. We're not sure if this thing is specifically targeting myself at the moment or if it could go after all of you as well," Lin summed up, locking eyes with his charge from across the room. Naru nodded his head slightly.

"For the time being, I want all of you to look around the office- find any clues as to what our adversary is. Madoka and Father Brown will be coming in later today and tomorrow respectively to lend their expertise. Lin and myself are going to make some calls and see if we can't find any information regarding his sister's possible whereabouts, or her reason for disappearing. As stated before, you are not to go anywhere alone, nor let your guard down at any time. Does anyone have any questions?"

Takigawa raised his hand, and Lin inclined his head towards the monk.

"Do we have any idea of what exactly it is that we're dealing with here? Any inclination as to exactly how dangerous the situation is?" He asked, his hazel eyes questioning. Lin closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing his temple where a slight headache had began to form.

"As stated before, we really don't have much of a clue as to what the opponent we're facing is, nor do we know precisely what it is here for. The only thing that we know for certain that whatever it is has to be dangerous- it has the ability to completely take on someone's identity, as well as affect the senses of people to disorient them. It could convincingly _become __me_, or possibly even any one us, and lead us to believe that we are in contact with the real person."

Upon hearing Lin's more thorough explanation, Ayako spoke up, her deep brown eyes wide.

"If this… whatever the hell this thing is can take on any one of our forms, doesn't that mean that none of us can trust each other? We don't have any way to know if who we're talking to is the real us!" The Priestess said, a slight note of hysteria in her voice. Several startled pairs of eyes flashed across the room- everyone seemed to be attempting to think up a solution to the issue that Ayako had brought forth, though non one seemed to have an idea, until Yasu jumped out of his seat, obvious excitement in his mannerisms.

"We could use idiolect gestures to determine if we're who we say we are!" The college student shrieked giddily. Mai lifted up her head for the first time since taking her seat between Monk and Ayako. She met Yasuhara's gaze, her brown cinnamon eyes full of confusion.

"Idio...what?" The brunette asked, her brow furrowing. Yasu chuckled and removed his glasses, proceeding to clean them on his shirt before replacing them on the bridge of his nose.

"Idiolect gestures- a gesture unique to the people in the present in this room.. a tell, if you will. As in tapping one's knee- a very natural and often reflexive gesture, though if we set it as our idiolect gesture, we'll know that we're who we say we are, because only those of us here will know to do that." Several gasps echoed throughout the reception room as understanding dawned on the Irregulars.

"You used tapping your knee as an example- could we actually use that as our idiolect gesture?" Takigawa asked after a moment. Yasu tapped his chin for a seconds and appeared to be deep in thought.

"I don't see why we couldn't.. like I said before, tapping the knee in itself is often something that we do reflexively- often we don't make ourselves do it, but it can be a nervous habit. Though, if we _make _ourselves tap our knees say, three times a sequence of three times, rather than once, it could hold an all new meaning." Yasu explained, his excitement still growing. The college student turned his gaze to Naru, who had his chin captured in his hand.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to try it. In fact, we may not have much of a choice. There really is no way to know if this thing can morph into only Lin, or if it can become literally any one of us. Its better to be safe than sorry in this circumstance, and this method might give us a better chance at being certain that none of us are being impersonated." The psychic researcher turned his head to glance in his bodyguard's direction. Lin nodded in approval, not instantaneously being able to postulate a better alternative to the plan laid before him.

Takigawa stood and clapped his hands together, a devious look on his face.

"Alright then, let's get this party started, people!" The monk said, raising his voice to echo throughout the reception room. Naru held his head in his hand for a moment in frustration, before sighing and sitting up straight.

"This is not a social gathering," The raven-haired teenager articulated slowly, as if explaining to a child. "You have not all been called here to 'party', or do anything of the sort. You are here to work, and I expect all of you to do so," He paused, then got to his feet and gestured towards Lin, who stood up from behind his desk. "Everyone, be careful. Lin and I will be in my office for the time being. And Mai, stay with Takigawa at all times, you are not to leave his side. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" He asked, locking gazes with his younger assistant, who swallowed, then nodded.

"I understand, Naru; but why do I need to stay with Monk?" The young brunette asked, locking her brown eyes with her Boss's blue ones.

"Because I said so. Shouldn't that be reason enough?" replied the narcissist, a slight note of irritation in his voice. Mai's gaze turned hard as she continued to stare angrily at her boss.

"No, it isn't enough. You can't just make a statement like that and not expect me to want a reason why." Naru pinched the bridge of his nose tightly before sighing deeply.

"Monk knows warding magic, and is a competent enough at it to where I trust that he will be able to defend you should the need arise." Upon hearing that, a huge grin slid onto Taking's face, and he grinned at Mai.

"Come on, kiddo. It'll be fun- like one of those old detective movies," the monk said, his tone light, and his hazel eyes bright. Mai couldn't help but smile at her father figure's enthusiasm. Despite the dire situation, Honshou was still upbeat, and trying to make the most of things. That was a quality that the young brunette respected in him.

"If you say so, Monk. I'll stay with you for now," Mai said in response, her words directed at Naru, who nodded, before gesturing towards Lin, who followed closely behind his charge.

As soon as the duo reached Naru's office, the paranormal researcher pulled his phone out of his pocket, and dialed a number, before moving to the chair behind his desk, and taking a seat. Lin made his way over to the black leather couch positioned to the right side of the room, and settled himself onto one of the cushions. He leaned back and closed his eyes momentarily, while awaiting further instructions from Noll.

Lin was walking in someplace distinctly familiar, yet otherworldly to him. A house in which photographs of himself and his brothers, as well as his only sister, Lifen, lined the tan-painted walls, and the smell of vanilla and sakura blossoms wafted through the air. Lin breathed in the calming scent, trying to decipher the place he associated with it within his muddled thoughts. It was difficult, however the Onmyouji reconciled the scent to memories of his mother- a perfume she had worn for as long as Lin could remember.

In fact, as Lin recalled, even his oldest brother, Draidyan, had mentioned early memories of his, in which he had been able to smell their mother's signature perfume. Although the scent of perfume was not the only thing that seemed familiar to Lin. The entire house to that point seemed nostalgically familiar to him- the holes in the walls from where he and his brothers and tried to play sports in the house, against their mother's wishes, and the slight staining of muddy brown hand-prints where Lin had touched the walls after staying out in a thunderstorm.

All of these things made Lin feel sentimental- he was _home. _He had no idea how he'd gotten back to Hong Kong, but in that one blissful moment, Lin did not care, for he had no worries. As a matter of fact, the twenty-seven realized that he should hurry to the kitchen before his mother had breakfast ready- she always wanted everyone to be their for the morning meal, without all of the tussling associated with awakening all of her children. Lin took a deep breath as he continued to walk down the hallway of the house he had grown up in.

After a few calm moments, the hallway came to an end, and Lin was standing in the living room where he had spent much of his time studying during his childhood. The Onmyouji sniffed the air again, trying to catch a whiff of what his mother was cooking up for breakfast this morning. Several scents floated to his nostrils- something sweet that he could not place, as well as the unmistakable scent of something…. burning? Since when did Lin's mother ever burn something that she was cooking- she was usually so careful- Lotus Lin thought of cooking as her art, she would _never _willingly allow any of her dishes to fail due to burning.

That was the moment in which Lin began to realize that something must be amiss. The black haired man took a step into the kitchen, and was almost immediately hit with the scent of something that twisted his stomach into a knot. He was smelling _blood_, and a lot of it. The realization nearly nearly froze Lin's feet to the ground, though pure instincts kicked in, thankfully, and he darted fully into the kitchen, only to stop dead in his tracks.

Lying flat across the table was Lotus Lin. Her normally beautiful blue eyes were glazed, and as dead looking as Lin feared that she was. Lin gagged, feeling like he was going to be sick. The dark-haired man put a hand to his mouth, fighting back the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. Steeling himself, Lin took a step towards the table where his mother- the woman who had given birth to him, raised him to be the man he is today, and given him unconditional love, lay unmoving, apparently very much dead.

Lin's eyes became steely as he reached towards the exposed neck of his mother. He place two of his fingers against her flesh, and closed his eyes, feeling for a pulse. It only took him a second to realize that there was none to be found. He bowed his head forward, then opened his eyes.

Lin blinked before turning and opening his eyes. He smelled the scent of blood much stronger now, though at first, he had no inclination as to why, until his eyes focused once again on the table where he had found his mother deceased. The normally stoic man was still able to see the corpse of his mother, though it appeared to be under other bodies. The bodies of the people who were the rest of Lin's family. He saw Draidyan, Lukida, and Nazuke, all with their eyes open, with that frozen in time look that death brought with it. Lin failed to notice how Lifen, another of his siblings, was not among the dead.

Above his siblings that were present, lay Lin's father. Lin felt no emotion, except for shock- he had not been close to his father for a long time, he still realized that this was the man who had helped raise him. The thought almost made Lin gag again, though he managed to not be sick right then and there. The normally calm and disciplined man forced himself to look further up the pile of bodies, as he had realized in that moment who in his family was missing from the corpses of his deceased family members. Lin continued to allow his eyes to travel upwards, and his gaze fell upon someone familiar, who was definitely not dead, standing atop the mound of bodies.

"Lifen," Lin said the name of his only sister in a low, venomous voice. "what the hell happened?" he asked, his tone taking on a note of hysteria- '_Why does Lifen look so calm?' _the bodyguard wondered, as several unpleasant thoughts began flooding through his mind. He shook his head wearily, and met his sister's blue eyes, which appeared to carry none of the emotion that they normally did. A shudder rocked through Lin's body against his wishes, and a cold, sadistic smile fell across Lifen's lips.

"What happened?" the young black haired girl asked, her voice cold and methodical. "what happened is you, Koujo. Everything that has happened, and the things that will happen, have all been because of you. Are you happy, now?"

Lin stared at Lifen, not quite understanding her words, but becoming more uneasy by the minute. '_My fault? How is her disappearing __**my **__fault?' _Lin did not have time to ponder the answer to his question before Lifen sprang down from atop the corpses of their dead family, and landed directly in front of her older brother. The stoic bodyguard stumbled back a few steps, though could not get away fast enough before a knife plunged into his shoulder.

Lin fell into blackness.

…

Kazuya Shibuya tapped his finger against his bodyguard's shoulder with more force that might have been necessary. As soon as they had entered his office, Lin had taken a seat on the leather couch that dominated the right side of Naru's office, and fallen asleep, most likely due to lack of rest the night before. When Naru had gotten off of the phone, he had noticed Lin struggling in his sleep.

His tapping of Lin's shoulder was an effort to wake him- in Naru's opinion, Lin had seemed incredibly frightened in his sleep, with the way he tossed and turned on the couch. The normally calm and composed man being afraid was something unusual to Naru.

Although Naru continued to tap, and occasionally shake Lin's shoulder, the Chinese man would not wake up, though he continued to struggle in his sleep. Frustrated, Naru spoke.

"Lin!" the stoic researcher said, his tone higher and sterner than the one he normally used when speaking to his guardian. He hadn't expected to get _any _reaction from Lin, but was very unpleasantly surprised when he felt hands close around his throat.

…

…

Koujo Lin was _afraid_\- more so than he had been in a very long time. He had saw his _sister, t_he very same one whom had gone _missing_, atop a pile of corpses that were the bodies of their immediate family. She had jumped down and stabbed him, sending the now nearly hysterical Lin into a dark spiral, that had cultivated into him waking up, still being stabbed by something.

Gasping, Lin applied more pressure to whatever it was that he had grabbed, trying to cut off its struggling. Lin was not yet using all of his strength, though he was close to it. He would have applied the max pressure that he was capable of, had he not heard a familiar, though out of breath sounding voice speak to him.

"Dammit. Lin. Let. Me. Go. Kill..killing me. Would. Make your. Job. Kind of re- redundant. Wouldn't. You. Say?"

Lin recognized the voice almost immediately, and cringed both inwardly and outwardly. He had been trying to cut of his charge's oxygen supply in the shock and fear of his dream. He instantly released his hold on Naru's throat and shot to his feet, at the same time as Naru fell down onto one knee, coughing and sputtering uncontrollably. Lin was afraid that he had nearly killed his charge. He bent down and lightly hit Noll on the back.

Seconds later, Mai and the rest of the irregulars burst into the office- they had apparently heard Naru's coughing. Their faces were a mixture of shock and fear. Mai gasped, and ran up behind Lin, who held up a hand to stop her from coming closer.

"Lin, what's wrong with Naru?!" she demanded, her tone high-pitched and face furious. Lin simply shook his head as Naru's coughing began to lessen. The paranormal researcher turned around, stood, and sat down on the couch cushion that Lin had previously vacated. He kept his head bowed for a moment, apparently catching his breath.

Monk, who had remained oddly silent up to that point, stepped towards Naru. His eyes had fallen upon the red marks across the raven haired teen's neck. His hazel eyes narrowed, and he stared into Lin's steel gray eyes for a moment.

"Lin, did you do this to Naru? Or was it the damn thing that took your sister?" Takigawa asked, his voice emotionless. Lin sighed, and ran a hand through his black fringe.

"Actually, it was me. I had a dream, though in reality, it was more of a nightmare, if you will. Naru attempted to wake me, and my kyusho-jitsu training kicked in. I began to strangle him reflexively. I very well could have killed him had he not been able to speak to me, and jar me out of my reverie," Lin admitted, brushing down the black lock of hair that covered his blind right eye. Lin met Takigawa's eyes again. The monk had his chin in his hand, and appeared to be deep in thought.

"Kyusho-jitsu?" he asked after a moment. Lin sighed inwardly in relief- he had thought that the first question that the monk would ask him would be about his dream. He was glad about the fact that that particular conversation could wait.

"Kyusho-jitsu is a form of martial arts that involves relying mostly on using various pressure points to debilitate, or in some cases kill, one's opponent. I had my hands wrapped around Naru's neck, at the same time as I was applying pressure to various points, which would have rendered him unconscious, had strangulation not killed him beforehand," Lin said in way of an answer, standing to his full six foot eight height, after he had finished speaking. "as I said- had he not managed to make me realize that he was the one that I was strangling, he wouldn't be breathing right now."

Mai's eyes were soft when she looked at Lin- a surprise considering the earlier fire in her expression.

"Lin, you were frightened. Its understandable that your instincts took over- don't be too hard on yourself," the brunette said gently. Lin shook his head, suddenly irritated.

"It doesn't matter whether or not I was frightened. I allowed myself to let my emotions rule over my senses. I'm usually much more disciplined and composed than this. I should not have allowed myself to slip, regardless of the reason," the stoic man replied, his voice hardening. He had allowed himself to be ruled by his emotions once again. Something that he had promised himself that he'd never do, after….. no- he refused to allow his mind to wander _there, _to painful thoughts of _her. _Those were memories that deserved nothing more than to be locked away, and never pondered upon again. They brought Lin nothing more than sadness, and thoughts of whether or not the situation could have gone any differently than it had.

Sighing and resolving to leave the matter that wanted to plague his thoughts to rest, Lin turned to Naru, who had raised his head up. Beads of sweat coated the researcher's forehead, though his breathing had become far less labored. He locked eyes with his bodyguard, and though Lin saw no accusations in his charge's gaze, he still felt like there were many words that remained unsaid between the two of them.

"Noll, I apologize for my actions. I did not mean to assault you. As your bodyguard, I should have been protecting you, rather than allowing myself to fall asleep on the job in the first place," Lin said and bowed his head forward in way of an apology. Naru stared at his guardian and mentor for a moment before taking a deep breath. He flinched slightly as he did so, most likely due to the remaining pain of Lin's fingers around his neck.

"No need to apologize. I can understand why you reacted the way you did, and it would be stupid of me to hold it against you. Though I'd very much appreciate it if you'd take precautionary measures to prevent a recurrence of this event," Naru said. "I'd prefer to continue breathing, if that's quite alright with you."

Lifting his head up, Lin almost wanted to smirk, but restrained himself as a particularly sarcastic thought crossed his mind.

"Actually, you continuing to breathe _would _very much be alright with me. As you said earlier, my job would be redundant, should you lose your life for any reason," he said, staring straight into Naru's eyes, which hardened slightly.

"Ah yes. Very true- my parents would be rather displeased with your work, should their only surviving son die due to the negligence of the man they hired to be his bodyguard," Naru allowed a small, cold smirk to cross his features. "I doubt they'd be willing to allow you to use them as references for any future jobs you might wish to apply for."

Sensing the palpable tension in the room, Monk stepped forward, resting a hand on the shoulders of both Lin and Naru. He directed his words at Lin.

"Lin, while you and Naru were…. otherwise occupied, Madoka called on the business phone. She said that she wasn't able to reach your cell phone. Her flight landed in the airport about thirty minutes ago. I believe you were supposed to go and pick her up?" Takigawa said gently, applying light pressure to Lin's shoulder. The stoic man nodded, before turning on his heel and walking out of Naru's office, without a further word to anyone.

Though it was sometimes painful for him to be around the woman, Lin still knew that he had an obligation to bring her safely to the SPR office so she could lend her expertise.

It was time to go and pick up Madoka.


	5. Chapter 5: Long Live the Car Crash Heart

**A/N I listened to Fall Out Boy's song 'Thriller' around 97 times during the latter part of this chapter. The name of this chapter is a lyric of that song. All rights go to the owner. *Note* The lyric is not talking about what it gave me inspiration for, however, the lyric seemed to focus me on the part of the chapter that I applied it to. **

**I still don't own Ghost Hunt. **

The outdoor air in downtown Shibuya was cold against Koujo Lin's exposed face as he walked inside the Shibuya International Airport. Madoka's flight from Britain had arrived some forty-five minutes before, sometime between Lin's nightmare and his confrontation with Naru. Lin figured that the pinkette would have several not-so-pleasant words to say to him, once he met up with her, due to the lateness of his arrival.

Refusing to allow thoughts of an angry Madoka to cloud his already muddled mind, Lin realized that he had avoided thinking about the dream that he had had while back at the office up until that point, when he could no longer push the thought down. He had saw his entire family _dead, _piled atop one another on the kitchen table of the house that had before, held many fond memories for the Onmyouji. Now, Lin could only bring himself to feel discontent towards the place. Though the location of the dream itself was not the worst part of the dream, nor the most emotionally scarring to the dark-haired man. First place in that regard went to the fact that the only member of Lin's family that had not been dead on that table, was none other than his only sister, whom was currently missing, Lifen Lin.

In the dream, which if Lin was being completely honest with himself- was actually more a nightmare, Lifen had appeared to him atop the pile of corpses that were their immediate family. She had proceeded to jump down from the mound of bodies, directly in front of her brother, and then stab him in the shoulder with a knife that he had not realized that she was holding.

Lin had awoken due to a voice yelling his name, and a sharp, uncomfortable, and repetitive jab in his shoulder, that felt strangely like the 'knife' had in his dream. In his shock from the chaos of his reverie, Lin had reflexively, due to his training in the martial art of Kyusho-Jitsu, nearly strangled Naru, who had been poking and speaking to him in an attempt to awake him from his seeming nightmare.

After a vaguely heated exchange of words, Lin had left the office to pick up Madoka from the airport, after Takigawa had alerted him to the fact that the pinkette's flight had arrived some thirty minutes before, during the Onmyodo and Naru's initial altercation.

Lin was waiting for Madoka now- standing in the passenger luggage line of the terminal where the pinkette's plane was supposed to have landed. She did not appear to have arrived within the premises yet. Lin guessed that she had went to the restroom, after deciding that leaving the area would be an alright move to make, seeing as at the time, her escort had failed to arrive in a timely fashion.

Realizing that he might have a moment to put his thoughts to ease, Lin considered calling his mother- after all, it _was_ just a dream, right? His mother, brothers, and father still had to be alive and well. If not, _someone _would have contacted him by now. Weighing his options, Lin decided that easing his mind would be his best bet- driving with a clouded conscience was never a good idea.

Although the rational part of Lin's brain told him that he had nothing to be concerned about, that his family was okay, and he was just letting his emotions get the best of him, the black haired man's heart still beat furiously against his ribcage as he pulled out his gray phone. He pressed the power button on the side, then promptly brought up the contacts menu, and then finally clicked on the contact named 'mom'.

For the first three unanswered rings, Lin felt hopeful that his family was unharmed. Though as soon as the forth ring sounded, and his call remained unanswered, the Onmyouji felt his composure slipping away, as if being sucked down a high power drain. After the fifth ring, his mother's voice came on the line, and for that one instant, Lin felt his worries disappear. That was until he realized that he was hearing only his mother's voice-mail recording. She hadn't picked up her phone.

Lin coughed as he felt his throat becoming thick. His natural reaction to upsetting circumstances. Forcing himself to breath, Lin ran a hand through the thick fringe covering his right eye, in an effort to give himself something else to focus on.

The action jarred a near forgotten memory in Lin's mind. One that happened when he was no more than six years old. He had been worried about something long since resolved, and had come to his mother for comfort. She had given it to him, of course, though had still sensed her son's fear. He had been brushing his hand through the black lock of hair that had begun to grow over his blind right eye.

Since he was young, that had been his tell, so to speak. Whenever her middle son had begun to distractedly fiddle around with his hair, Lotus Lin had always known, without a doubt, that something was on his mind.

Lotus had grabbed Lin by the hand, pulling him closer to her, then locked him tightly in a motherly embrace. Shocked, Lin had began to cry into his mother's warm coat, with sensations of comfort and warmth eventually calming him down.

Lin hadn't realized that he'd closed his eyes until they popped open, and he was again standing in the airport terminal. 'Right, _Madoka.__' __He _remembered, glancing around his surroundings warily. Lin wasn't exactly sure of how much time had passed while he had been in his reverie, though it didn't seem like Madoka had showed up.

Just as the thought fled him, a force knocked into the Onmyouji's back, and he stumbled forward slightly. Reflexively, the dark-haired man began to slip into a Kyusho-Jitsu stance, instinctively preparing to defend himself from his unknown assailant. Lin's lean muscles were tense, and he felt his back stiffen with the fierce discipline of his martial arts training. He was well aware that he needed to be absolutely ready fight if this was the bastard who had taken his sister.

His adversary felt the change in his posture as well. Proof to that testament was given in the form of a high pitched, distinctly feminine squeal that suddenly sounded from directly behind Lin. The slightly startled man spun around, his hands still in front of his chest defensively. Accusing slate-gray eyes met a pair of soft, rose pink ones.

Lin registered who he was locking eyes with after a moment of silence. Registering that there was no immediate threat and relaxing would be the prudent action to take, he lowered his hands to his sides and finally, properly addressed Madoka.

"Ah, I apologize for my reaction- I must admit that you startled me slightly. Hello, Madoka," said the once again stoic Lin. Madoka relaxed as well- for a moment, she had thought for a moment that Lin would not realize who had bumped into him, and would injure her before it dawned on him who he'd attacked. Relief spread through the pinkette and she giggled slightly. Lin glanced at her in confusion, however he said nothing- most likely deciding that he really didn't need to know what she thought was so funny about their prior predicament.

Ceasing in her laughter, Madoka simply smiled at Lin. The dark haired man didn't return the gesture. He simply began to fiddle around with the buttons on his black dress jacket. Sighing at her failed attempt at being friendly to the deadly stoic man, Madoka finally replied back to her escort's earlier greeting.

"Its nice to see you, Lin. You look well- how long has it been? Six months, right?" The pinkette asked, counting forward from the month of Eugene's funeral. Lin blinked at the question, before beginning his own calculation.

"Something like that," he replied after a moment. Lin did not really wish to be reminded of the demise of the other Davis twin at a time like this, when the death of his own family could be looming. Fidgeting uncomfortably with the thought prominently in the front of his mind, Lin's mind wandered back to his previous attempt at calling his mother, how her voice-mail had given him so much hope- albeit temporarily, only then to have all hope crushed in an instant. The black-haired man uncontrollably flinched at the upsetting memory, and the ever perceptive Madoka took notice. The pinkette's brow furrowed slightly in concern.

"Lin, are you alright?" she asked quietly, "for a moment there, you looked like you were in some kind of pain," Madoka found herself reaching towards him with an outstretched hand. Seeing the action, Lin met her gaze. His gray eyes were cold, emotionless even. Seeing the dark expression in his stare, Madoka thought better of her well meaning intention of physically comforting him, and quickly lowered her hand. She had no idea that the look in Lin's eyes was not because of her- had no inclination of the horrible dreams that had been plaguing him, and now seemed to be carrying over into his waking life.

Stiffening and turning his head away from her, Lin answered, although the need to was now most likely redundant.

"I'm perfectly fine," he muttered, more to himself than to Madoka. He was of course, lying through his teeth, although he thought it best to keep up the appearance of having his emotions in check. He gritted his teeth together at the prevarication- a part of him, however miniscule it may have been, wanted to be truthful with Madoka. However, the larger, more dominant part of him did not want to admit his fears and worries to _anyone, _especially not to her. Not yet, and maybe not ever. "we should be getting back to SPR soon. We wouldn't want to cause everyone undue concern with a prolonged absence."

Not waiting for an answer, the tall, black-haired man turned around and began walking in the general direction of the exit to the crowded airport. Madoka trailed behind, for some reason feeling as though she had been slapped. She couldn't put her finger on what made her feel that way, however she guessed that it had to do with how Lin seemed to not trust her enough to tell her what was bothering him, even after all of these years. It didn't seem that the tall Onmyouji would ever forgive her for what had turned out to be the biggest mistake of her life. Not that she deserved to be forgiven, after all. She had more or less broken a younger Lin's heart, after feeling like he had rejected her. It had taken her years of maturing to realize that his 'rejection' had actually been him trying to be smart about the situation they had found themselves in. He'd been trying to _protect _her, not make her feel unloved.

She had been a fool- a young girl foolishly in love. Her misunderstanding of the past seemed to have cost her the love of her life. There hadn't been a day since the event that Madoka hadn't wished that she could go back to that day, with the understanding she had now, and tell Lin that she respected the decision he had made. But as she had heard so many times, you can't remake the past; you have to make the best of your future. The pink-haired woman hoped that there would be a day when she didn't have to regret her mistake, and could move on with the future. This memory was the only thing that her optimistic outlook on life could not faze- perhaps with time, that too would change.

"Madoka, you're coming to SPR with me, correct?" a deep voice asked out of the blue, jolting Madoka from her thoughts. It was Lin, who was now standing in front of the sliding doors that were the exit to the airport. The petite woman had stalled a few feet behind Lin, and hadn't moved in several seconds.

Realizing that Madoka was not paying enough attention to answer, Lin led the way to the car, and was just about to open the trunk when a startled gasp made him whip his head in Madoka's direction. The Pinkette had a look of horror on her face, one that made Lin's stomach turn uncomfortably.

"What is it?" he asked frantically, fearing the worst from her answer. However, what Madoka had to say almost was enough to make Lin lose his composure.

"I left my luggage inside!" Madoka said, her voice near hysterical. Lin sighed irritably, before lifting up the suitcase in his hand.

"I got it off the return while you were zoned out. You're holding your purse if you weren't aware- somehow, you managed to keep a hold on it and not allow it to get stolen on the way out," The stoic man replied, dropping the luggage into the back and slamming the hood back down. "get into the car- we really should be getting back." Lin added, getting into his side of the car for added emphasis.

Obeying obediently, Madoka got in as well. Lin turned the keys in the ignition, and the car roared to life. Neither spoke as Lin drove down the rode, and entered the crowed highway. Lin drove in silence, and Madoka was lost in thought.

Lin wanted to talk to her- to tell her that he was no longer angry with her for their past. He had wanted to tell her that every time he had seen her since that fateful day, but had never had the ability to do so. Whether it was cowardice or fear of not being forgiven, he had never had the mental strength to bring the matter up. Not that apologizing would make any difference in their relationship, but it would make Lin feel like he had done all he could to make amends, instead of him feeling like he had made a half-assed attempt.

Lin was about to say something that he had wanted to say for years, but was cut off by a forceful impact on his side of the vehicle. Another car had broadsided the front end of his car. It had been going about seventy-five mph. Lin was flung sideways, and despite the seat belt around him, the Onmyouji's head slammed into the window.

Lin's vision began to rapidly go black, and he realized in silent terror that he would be unable to even attempt to fight for control over the vehicle that was quickly spinning out of control. Lin was slipping faster into unconsciousness- he could no longer see the road, nor feel his body laying sideways in the seat. He had time for one final thought before the impenetrable darkness overwhelmed his senses completely. The thought was for Madoka's well-being, rather than his own. '_Please Madoka, __don't die__' _he begged in his mind, before passing out.

The car continued to swerve in between the lanes, as other cars attempted to maneuver out of its range. With no guidance from a driver, the car ran into the metal road dividers forcefully. The vehicle flipped over the railing, and hit the ground, continuing to revolve across the asphalt several times, before coming to a harsh stop in the middle of the road. But the damage wasn't done yet. Another driver coming from the opposite direction had not realized that there was a vehicle in the middle of his lane. He drove straight into the already wrecked vehicle going at about sixty mph. Lin's car was rammed out of the road, and into the no parking lane.

Two bodies laid still among the remnants of broken glass.

…

…

Kazuya Shibuya paced irritably across his office floor. Lin and Madoka had yet to arrive, and as much as Naru hated to admit it, he was beginning to become worried for their sakes- too much had happened recently for concern not to arise over the whereabouts of too people who were considerably late. And it was unlike Lin to be late in the first place- he hated leaving Naru unguarded, after all, everyone had become more protective of him after the death of his brother. No one wanted to bury the other Davis twin.

Starting his tenth walk across his spacious office, Naru waited silently for the door to his office to open- waited for Lin and Madoka to be standing there, one with a stoic expression and the other with a goofy grin.

Five minutes later, Naru got his first wish; the door was flung open forcefully to admit an out of breath Takigawa, who held the cordless office phone in his hand. His expression told Naru everything he needed to know.

" . .Crash. Lin an- and Madoka ," The Monk said, nearly gasping for breath. Naru froze in his tracks, his already pale face draining of color.

"Where are they?" the researcher's voice was low, and he wondered if he had spoken loud enough for Honshou to hear him. Somehow, the monk did did hear the low question directed at him.

"Still at the accident scene- the EMT called to the scene was the same on who loaded Lin into the ambulance when he hurt his leg. He recognized him and managed to find out where he worked- he called as soon as he found us," he replied, regaining some of his lost breath.

"How bad is it?" Naru asked after a moment, not really wanting to know the answer, but feeling the need to ask nonetheless.

Monk flinched at the question. "I really don't know, Naru," Something in his tone told Naru that he was being lied to, but he didn't have the presence of mind to push the issue.

…

…

EMT's worked tirelessly to stabilize the two victims of the car crash. The man who had been pulled from the wreckage was bleeding from a large wound on his head- most likely from where he had hit it on the window. He had passed out from the force- and the EMT guessed that he had a severe concussion. The EMT working on Lin was a young male in his early thirties- he had been the same one who had stabilized Lin after he had broken his leg.

That injury was tame compared to what the EMT was seeing now; Lin obviously had been through the ringer. Knowing that he needed to remove Lin's jacket and shirt physically hurt the young medic. He knew that Lin was probably severely injured from head to toe- he didn't need to proof to believe that.

Unfastening the buttons of Lin's black coat, the medic removed the garment carefully and allowed it to stay sprawled out underneath the Onmyouji. The EMT's eyes instantly fell on the pools of blood that were forming on Lin's white dress shirt.

Steeling himself, the medic unfastened the shirt, and ran his hands over Lin's sides, feeling his ribs. He must have hit a particularly sensitive area, because Lin shot up from his position on the mat. The force must have aggravated all of his injuries, because the dark-haired man screamed in utter agony, and his feverish gray eyes met the EMT's worried blue ones.

The medic carefully attempted to coax Lin into laying back down, but the injured bodyguard would have nothing of it.

"Madoka," he slurred, blinking slightly in obvious confusion. Lin sank forward slightly as a sensation of vertigo swept over him; black dots swam before his eyes, and the sound of the ocean roared in his ears. He was vaguely aware that he was about to pass out again. "Madoka kee- keep her safe," Lin muttered, his eyes closing again, and his full weight tumbled forward into the EMT's waiting arms. The medic lowered the unconscious man back onto the mat.

It was obvious that Lin had several broken ribs, if not many other broken bones. He had also shown obvious signs of a concussion- slurred speech, disorientation, dizziness. The man would be on bed rest for weeks, no doubt about it. But the worst of it was that the medic had no idea of how bad off the woman, Madoka, was. He hoped for Lin's sake that she was alright.

….

….

Twenty minutes later, Lin had been loaded into one ambulance, and Madoka in another. Lin laid on the gurney, an IV stuck into his vein and a breath mask over his mouth. A heart monitor had also been attached to Lin. He had seemed to be stabilized. Until the ambulance had made its way halfway to the hospital, all had been silent, other than Lin's labored breathing under the breath mask.

But suddenly, a sharp gasp rang throughout the small ambulance back, and the heart monitor began to beep, as Lin's back arched against the gurney.

"What's going on with him?" one of the younger medics asked, spooked out of his wits.

"He's seizing, probably due the head injury he sustained when he hit it on the window," the senior medic replied, walking over to Lin and gently moving his head to the side, to allow any excess saliva of other fluids to escape from Lin's mouth and not choke him. "it should resolve itself in a moment," he added, seeing the whitening of the younger medic's face. "You had medical training, didn't you? Calm down and use it,"

The younger man nodded quietly. "I'm sorry, its just that this is the first time that I've seen this up close,"

The senior medic nodded, his hard eyes softening a bit. "I understand- but it'll get easier. Just try to calm down, kid. The seizure shouldn't affect the patient too much- probably will just aggravate a few of the existing injuries. It'll be over shortly," sure enough, three and half minutes later, Lin's body seized convulsing, and the Onmyouji laid flat on the gurney, his breathing labored.

That he hadn't woken up during the ordeal, was a miracle in itself- he would feel like hell when he awoke. There was no need for him to hasten into the pain.

Fifteen minutes later, Lin was unloaded from the ambulance and taken to the critical care unit. Several x-rays and stitches later, he was transported to a recovery room, and tucked into bed. It wasn't long after that Naru and the rest of the Irregulars arrived at the hospital, although only Naru was allowed to see Lin due to the one visitor policy in place at night.

The paranormal researcher stared at his unconscious bodyguard- Lin had gauze wrapped around his head. His left arm was in a sling; he'd dislocated his shoulder. Lin had several broken ribs on both sides, and quite a few pulled muscles in his back, as well as in his neck. He had sustained a severe concussion from the force of his head slamming into the window, which would most likely have many unpleasant side effects of its own.

Lin had more injuries that Naru did not care to recount in his head; he assumed that they would all surface sooner or later after the Onmyouji awoke. The doctor had also informed Naru that Madoka was not much better off, but was also stable. The raven-haired teen decided that he would check on her later. For now, he had allowed Mai to be the pinkette's one visitor.

Sighing in frustration after a moment of pacing, Naru remembered what it was that he needed to do; the hospital staff had not known who else to call about Lin's accident, so Naru had promised to take the task upon himself. He already knew who he was going to call. He grabbed Lin's phone that had been left on the bedside table, and cut it on. The screen had a small crack running through it, but otherwise, seemed to be alright.

Naru flicked through the speed dial, until he found the name that he needed. He held the phone up to his ear and walked towards the door, his back to the unconscious man in the bed. It took three rings before the person on the other line answered the call.

"Koujo," a pause ensued, and Naru thought that he could barely hear someone yawning on the other line; it appeared that the researcher had awoken Lukida from his sleep. "why the hell are you calling at this hour?" Noll sighed, for it had to be done.

"This is actually Kazuya Shibuya- I'm calling.. about Lin," he muttered. He was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath from the other end.

"What about him? What happened to Koujo?" Lukida asked, intense anger coloring his words. He already had one sibling to worry about; he sure as hell didn't need another.

"He was in a car wreck. He was pretty severely injured- several broken ribs, a concussion, and other injuries. The doctors say that he should make it, but I still thought that you'd like to know about his current condition," there was a long pause before Lukida regained his voice.

"Yes, thank you for calling. Draidyan, Nazuke, and I will be traveling to Japan to see him very soon. I believe our parents would like to stay home just in case there is some new development regarding Lifen. I'll see you soon, Mr. Shibuya," Lukida said, hanging up the call- Naru had heard the man's composure slipping through the cracks, and understood completely why he had gotten off the phone so quickly.

Sighing again, Naru situated himself in the guest chair by Lin's bed. He eventually curled up in the chair and fell asleep. At some point during the night, a nurse covered the young researcher with a sheet.

Kazuya Shibuya slept restlessly.

…

…

Three tall men boarded a plane along with the other passengers. It was a flight from Hong Kong to Shibuya Japan; a place that none of the three men were familiar with, but a place that they very urgently needed to go, nonetheless.

Koujo Lin, their brother- two of the men being older than Lin, and one being younger- had been in a car wreck. He wasn't at risk of dying as far as they had heard, but he would not be well when he awoke. The brothers knew that as soon as he was able, Lin was going to bombard them with questions whose answers they couldn't provide; they didn't _know _who took Lifen; they didn't _know _where she was likely to be; they didn't _**know **_if she was even still alive.

They didn't know anything about her disappearance, and it hurt like hell. They all only had the one sister, and she was missing, and there was nothing that the brothers could do about it. And now, after all of the emotional turmoil of the last few days, which if they were being completely honest, felt like an eternity, now they had been forced to tell their mother that one of her sons had been in a car crash, and none of them knew if he was truly alright or not.

The waiting only made it harder, and the three men had about four hours left of it before they could see their brother. The only thing that comforted them was the knowledge that their brother had not been killed in the crash, and that, even though it was a risk to his health, Draidyan had the power to heal injuries, at the expense of losing some of his own energy.

It was not the best, nor the most promising method, but it was an available option if Lin's condition took a sudden turn for the worst.

Without the knowledge that even if his health deteriorated, all hope was not lost for Lin, the brothers didn't know what they'd do. Most likely be damn near worked up enough to have nervous break-downs.

In silent unison, three brothers decided to sleep until they got to Shibuya; they would most likely be in for a long day when they got there, and it was best to go ahead and rest up.

…

…

_~Five hours later~_

Koujo Lin shifted restlessly against the white hospital sheets that he had been laid upon; the Onmyouji had yet to awaken from the drugs that had been injected into his system, however, the nurse who had been in charge of his care had assured the four people in Lin's room that it should not take much longer for him to regain consciousness.

The nurse had said that he would also feel quite ill a few minutes after waking up, due to the side effects of the concussion and drugs circulating through his blood stream.

The nurse had left them to their own devices after instructing them that if her help was needed, to not hesitate to call. Everyone in the room was worn out; Lin's three brothers from jet lag and Naru from sleeping in the uncomfortable hospital chair for several hours.

None of them had much patience; they were all worried about the injured man in the bed, and how bad off he would be once he awoke. Although it was scary, each was anxious for Lin to wake up, so they could have proof that he was not going to die.

Luckily, they did not have to wait long, for Lin stirred in the bed not twenty minutes later. Lin blinked his slate gray eyes open, and his gaze immediately fell on the visitors in his room. One of them he had expected to see, but the other three made him question whether or not he was dreaming. Nazuke was the first to be at his brother's side.

The rebellious youth had been panicking; that had been obvious to the others, but for Nazuke's sake, they had remained silent on the matter. But seeing him rush over to Lin made them wonder whether or not they should have given him some sort of comfort.

They didn't have time to ponder the question before Lin's groggy voice could be heard in the room.

"Nazie?" he asked uncertainly, addressing Nazuke with the nickname he had been given when the siblings were young.

Nazuke managed a half-smile. "Kou, its good to see you awake," the twenty-two year old said in response. Lin continued to stare at his younger brother, taking in Nazuke's 6'3 frame, familiar sapphire blue eyes, black hair and red hair styled in spiky layers. It was all familiar: Lin realized that he was definitely looking at his real brother, and not a copy. Or at least, he hoped that this wasn't the shape-shifter who had been causing him trouble.

"What are you three doing here?" Lin asked, including his two older brothers into the conversation. Upon being addressed, Draidyan and Lukida stepped forward, and smiled at their injured younger brother.

"We came to see you; Kazuya here called Lukida and told him that you were hurt. We flew here on a plane last night. We've been here for about an hour, waiting for you to wake up," Draidyan said, covering his mouth as he yawned. The oldest of the brothers was tired; incredibly so. He had only managed to sleep on the plane for about an hour, before turbulence and fear for his injured brother and missing sister engulfed him.

Nazuke and Lukida hadn't slept much better, though they had gotten slightly more sleep than Draidyan. The three were all worn thin, in both patience and energy. They would have to leave the hospital soon to get some rest, unless they all wanted to end up in the hospital along with Lin.

After a moment, Lin seemed to accept Draidyan's answer. "I see. That explains why you all look half dead on your feet. I'll assume that I can attribute you appearances to jet lag?" The Onmyouji asked, smiling slightly.

The smile remained on his face until a sudden, heart-wrenching thought made him cringe. "Madoka, she was in the car with me. Is she alright?" Lin asked, fear almost breaking his composure and leaking into his voice.

Naru, who had been standing next to the wall with his eyes closed, spoke for the first time since his bodyguard had awoken.

"Madoka was injured, though you have no reason to worry. The doctor says that she was injured nowhere near as badly as you were. I'm not sure if that last bit of information will offer you any sort of comfort, but its the truth," said the researcher seriously, "the doctor says that you can see her as soon as you both are feeling a bit more well," he added, guessing Lin's next question.

Lin relaxed against the mattress, suddenly feeling drained as another, painful thought crossed his mind.

"What about the driver of the other vehicle?"

Sapphire blue eyes narrowed angrily in Lin's question, and Nazuke's fist clenched at his side. However, his anger was not directed at Lin. "Which driver?" he asked, sarcasm venomously dripping from his words. Lin's gray eyes narrowed as well, though not in anger, but confusion.

"Excuse me?" Lin asked, shock adding an unintentional bite to his words. Nazuke blinked, seeming to come out of his infuriated reverie. The youngest of the brothers sighed, and ran a hand through his red and black streaked hair. Seeing that Nazuke did not want to be the bearer of bad new, Draidyan took it upon himself to give Lin the exposition that he was requesting.

"Lin, your vehicle was hit twice, by two separate automobiles. The driver of the first car, has yet to be found. The damaged vehicle was found abandoned a bit up the road, but the driver was nowhere to be seen. There were no trails of blood suggesting that the driver had escaped on foot. Quite frankly, its as though the driver simply vanished. As for the driver of the second car, he is in similar condition to Madoka, and should make a full recovery," Lin's oldest brother stated, leaning towards him and squeezing Lin's shoulder.

Lin was stiff as he did so- either in shock or pain, and Draidyan was forcefully reminded that his younger brother had just been in a potentially life-threatening car crash. He stared at Lin's face, however the Onmyouji seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. "Lin, are you with me still?"

Lin blinked suddenly, before focusing on Draidyan's face. "I'm here, I simply had several questions going through my mind at once,"

Draidyan understood completely; Lin had nearly lost his life, and was now finding out that the driver who had originally caused his accident, had disappeared without a trace. He was bound to have many questions that he was not asking for answers to.

"Care to ask us the questions on your mind? We might know the answers," Lukida said gently, deciding for the first time in awhile to join the conversation.

Lin shook his head, causing a sensation of vertigo to come over him. He closed his eyes in attempt to cause the feeling of dizziness to abate. Despite how he felt, Lin decided to continue the conversation, if for no other reason than to preserve his sanity; the questions in his head needed answers, before they became overwhelming to him.

"Most of the questions in my head are ones that I only I can truthfully answer. I have a hypothesis as to who caused the wreck, though I need opinions on the matter before I come to a definite conclusion," Lin admitted. He would have said more, however, he could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness once again; the drugs that he had been given for more than potent enough to keep the Onmyouji laying down for a good while.

"What is your hypothesis?" Draidyan asked after a moment, as Lin had not said anything else after his previous announcement. Lin managed to open his eyes and lift his head up, making eye contact with Draidyan for a moment before re-closing his eyes.

"I'll tell you later; drugs are kicking in- I'm about to go out again." As Lin said that, he could feel his head rolling to the side as his muscles relaxed. The last thing that he heard before fading out was the sound of the door to his room closing.

…

…

Lin awoke surrounded by complete darkness. The scent of sterilization encompassed his senses. It took a moment for his memories to return to him, though once they did, he only had one thought on his mind; the desire to fill his need to see Madoka.

The doctor had told Naru that he would be allowed to see he when both of them were healthier, though the Onmyodo didn't want to wait that long. He felt the need to see the pink-haired lady, if not for only a moment, to prove that she was alive.

Resigning himself to the task at hand, Lin reached to his right in the darkness of the room, his hand groping for the switch to the lamp that should have been on the bedside table. Lin found the switch after a moment, and the light flickered on, illuminating the tidy white-walled hospital room.

Lin removed the blanket from his torso using his good arm, then gingerly pulled his long legs out. He was wearing a hospital gown. The stoic man wanted to shake his head in disapproval, though refrained from it; the concussion made it difficult to move his head very much without making himself feel dizzy and sick.

Sighing in pain and frustration, Lin managed to pull himself off the bed, and rise to his full height. Pain burst behind his eyelids as pressure in his head threatened to overwhelm him. Lin breathed harshly for several seconds before the pain alleviated enough for him to gently lift his head up.

It was not until a moment later that Lin remembered the monitors hooked via wires to his veins. If he pulled them out, an alarm would go off, and most likely alert the on-call doctor, and wake up all of the other resting patients in the process. Lin couldn't risk detection if he wanted to see Madoka unhindered.

Weighing his options, Lin decided to call Draidyan. He knew his oldest brother well enough that he was certain that even if Lukida, Nazuke, and Naru, and the Irregulars had gone back to SPR to rest, Draidyan would have stayed. He was most likely in the waiting room, waiting for visiting hours to start again.

Lin reached behind his back for his cellphone laid on the bedside table. He grabbed it, and flicked through his contacts until he came to the one he needed. It rang only twice before Draidyan answered.

"Koujo?" Draidyan's groggy sounding voice came through the line, uncertainty seemingly coloring the thirty year old's words. "why are you calling this late? Are you alright?"

Lin sighed deeply. "I'm fine, though I have a preposition,"

Draidyan was silent on the other line for a few moments, before answering. "May I take an educated guess as to what that preposition entails?"

"I'm not stopping you,"

"No, I guess you aren't. But you want me to help you see _her, _don't you?" Draidyan asked, a knowing tone replacing the underlying tired one.

Lin stiffened slightly as the truth was thrown into his face. He had always known that Draidyan was smart, and kept a watchful eye on his younger siblings, however Lin had 'grown up' many years before. He had assumed that he and Lukida were out of the stage where Draidyan felt the need to watch them like a hawk.

Apparently, he had been very wrong, and there was no hiding the truth of the matter from his oldest brother any longer. "Yes, I do want to see her. I just have to see for myself that she is alright,"

Draidyan didn't respond to Lin's honest answer for awhile- long enough that Lin began to wonder if Draidyan had hung up without his knowledge. Just as Lin was about to say something, Draidyan spoke up.

"I'll do my best to help you get out of the room, but you should realize that you're connected a monitor- I'm not sure if its mobile,"

Lin glanced at the monitor in front of him; it appeared that if it was unplugged from the wall, that the machine could be transported out of the room. "It appears as if they are, though I'm not positive,"

A second lapsed.

"Alright, I'm on my way. Should be there in three to five minutes," a beep sounded as Draidyan disconnected the call.

Moments passed and the door to Lin's room was gently opened. A disgruntled Draidyan stood in the doorway, his black hair in disarray, and his black leather jacket wrinkled. He didn't hesitate as he carefully closed the heavy metal door, then walked over to Lin. It was in this moment that Lin realized that he was holding two articles of clothing.

"Figured you'd want to be slightly more.. covered then they have you now," he said, smirking as he took in Lin's hospital gown. Irritated, Lin grabbed the pants and undergarment from his brother's grasp, and dressed himself.

When he was finished, Draidyan stared at him, as if he was trying to see the inner workings of Lin's body. "How do you feel?" he settled on asking.

Lin blinked at the question. "I feel fine," he answered, gritting his teeth about the lie. However, Draidyan was no fool.

"And how do you _honestly _feel?"

"Like hell," Lin answered truthfully, "I'm both mentally and physically drained; I have something after me and I have no idea what it is, but I know that there's a damn high chance that its what took Lifen,"

Draidyan sighed warily. "I know what is physically draining you, but I only know parts of what is affecting you mentally. Care to enlighten me?"

"Dreams," Lin answered simply. "I've been having terrible dreams about Lifen. In the last one, it appeared as though she had killed the rest of you, and then stabbed me, although that last part might have been influenced by an outside force," seeing Draidyan's questioning look, Lin laughed humorlessly. "Naru was jabbing me in the shoulder, trying to wake me up. My Kyusho-Jitsu kicked in, and I responded by nearly strangling him to death,"

Draidyan stared at his brother, his face frozen between amusement and horror. "You make a living in part as a bodyguard, yet you nearly kill the one you're assigned to guard? Anti climatic, wouldn't you say, dear brother?"

Lin stiffened. _Sarcasm. _He was definitely hearing _sarcasm_ in his brother's voice, and it made him angry. Lin did not allow his anger to seep into his voice.

"This is a serious situation, in my opinion. It amazes me how you still have the audacity to speak so sarcastically about our predicament," Lin realized that he hadn't sounded angry- but severely condescending.

Draidyan, despite the harsh words directed at him, simply smiled, and his silver-gray eyes twinkled from behind his glasses, even in the dimness of the room. "Audacity, eh? What if I told you that I wasn't being audacious at all, but trying to use humor to diffuse the tension?"

The look in Lin's eyes told Draidyan that he had no intention of solving the riddle of what Draidyan was trying to say. Draidyan removed his glasses from his face, and preoccupied himself for a moment by cleaning them on his black shirt, then returned them to their previous position. "What I mean is that after the dreams that you've been having, and the general worry for Lifen and your own safety, as well as those around you, I highly doubt that you have been able to relax much lately. You're tense with fear, yet your too damn stoic to show it,"

Lin stared at Draidyan, before cutting his gaze to the floor. _'How can he always read me so well? How does he know exactly what I'm thinking?' _ Lin thought to himself, seeking an answer to questions that after twenty plus years, Lin had still not gotten any closer to figuring out.

Draidyan smirked again. "I'm not the mind-reader in the family- you know all too well that Nazuke can read minds when he applies himself. I simply have a great sense of intuition; I've known you since we were children, Koujo. I understand the basic principles of how your mind works,"

"I realize that, though sometimes I wish you weren't quite so accurate," Lin replied, meeting his brother's gaze again. "You make me see the truths that I'd often rather avoid." Draidyan smiled- genuinely this time.

"I'll take that as a compliment." a pause ensued, then, "you still haven't told me your hypothesis from earlier,"

Lin nodded. "I realize that; I'm not saying anything until I can have a meeting with everyone involved- the other members of the research team included,"

Draidyan shook his head in aggravation, but didn't complain. Instead he turned his attention to the machine Lin was hooked up to. "If you pulled the wire out, an alarm would go off and alert the doctor, and I assume that you don't want that. I believe that I can unplug it from the power outlet without setting of an alarm, because it should be equipped with a backup battery," Draidyan didn't wait for Lin's approval, instead he went straight to the outlet and unplugged the cord. No alarm sounded, and Lin sighed audibly in relief.

"Thank you, Draidyan,"

"Not a problem, Koujo. I wrapped the cord around the machine, so it shouldn't drag. You're good to go,"

Lin was about to leave, before he decided to show a rare moment of affection towards his oldest brother. He turned towards the older man and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. Draidyan responded by squeezing Lin's good shoulder gently.

"I'm admittedly, a tad afraid of hugging you right now. I'd rather not have you writhing on the floor in agony," Draidyan chuckled lightheartedly, and Lin found himself smiling slightly before grabbing hold of the machine that he was connected to, and leaving the room.

Once in the darkened hallway, Lin walked past each door, reading the name-tags of the patients inside until he found the one labeled 'Mori, Madoka'. Breathing deeply, the dark-haired man pushed the door open, stepped inside, and carefully shut the door.

He turned towards the bed, and saw what he had been looking for. Madoka laid in the bed, pink hair pushed behind her, and covers pulled up to her chin. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully.

Lin couldn't help but feel disappointed; he had been hoping to hear her speak for further proof that she was alive, however, he did not wish to wake her up.

Not sure of exactly what else to do, Lin walked next the bed, and stared at the pinkette's sleeping face. She was as beautiful. In fact, she was so beautiful that Lin found his hand caressing her face gently as she slept. Sh was still as beautiful as she had been when she was seventeen, when her and Lin's relationship had been ended.

Lin rubbed careful circles into her face, not really understanding what he was doing. Seconds passed before he glanced at Madoka's face again. Only this time, a pair of pink eyes stared up at him.

Lin stumbled backwards in shock; so Madoka hadn't been sleeping. He was a fool- a damn fool for not making certain. What had he been doing, anyway?

Madoka appeared startled, yet she reached for the stunned Onmyouji's wrist, grasping it in an iron-clad grip. Lin attempted to turn around and leave the room, however, with Madoka pulling his arm and him being fairly far away from the monitor he was hooked to, Lin felt the resistance, and allowed himself to be pulled forward. He assumed that he'd be able to catch himself before coming closer to Madoka, but he was wrong.

Lin landed above Madoka, his good arm beside her head. The impact jarred his injured shoulder, and he winced, but didn't cry out in pain. Instead, he took in his suggestive position above Madoka.

Madoka noticed it to, though instead of pushing him away, she reached up and began brushing Lin's hair from his blind eye. The half-blind man stiffened, and was about to pull away, until he felt lips against his own.

Madoka was kissing him, and took only a moment for him to realize that he was kissing her back. Hidden, painful memories assaulted Lin, and he fought to force them back into his subconscious to where they belonged, but to no avail.

The memories just kept coming- images of one of the defining moments of Lin's life. He couldn't deal with it. Not then, and maybe not ever. It was just too damn much.

"What the hell are you doing?" an infuriated voice yelled, and Lin cringed, because he realized that it was his own. He had broken the kiss, and cried out. He was _angry_, furious even. Madoka had kissed him after what she had done in the past.

It wasn't right- she didn't have the right. Who was she to confuse his head so much? He didn't know what he wanted to. He had thought that he'd gotten over the past. It had been a hit and miss, and he hadn't been able to do anything about it.

But after being kissed by Madoka again, Lin was no longer sure about anything. He became vaguely aware that Madoka was speaking to him, with tears in her eyes, but Lin couldn't bring himself to care.

He grabbed the machine hooked to his arm, and fled the confines of Madoka's room, not even bothering to make sure that the door didn't slam shut.

He'd had enough shock for one day.

**A/N Everything that happens in this fic will have a purpose eventually; Lin's headaches from Chapter 1 will eventually be explained, as will the past that Lin and Madoka are not yet revealing, and Lin's relationship with his dad. Once again, most of the information about Lin in my fic is my own head-canons, and should *not* be taken as anything more outside of this fic. However, their purposes in my fic are to flesh out Lin's character more, with a backstory that shows why he acts the way he does. I might start NaNoWriMo with this fic along with one of my close friends. I'm not sure yet, but chapters might start coming more frequently. **

**Read and Review!**


	6. Chapter 6: Making Connections

Darkness; impenetrable and concealing surrounded the tall figure perching on the roof of the Shibuya Psychic Research building. The figure had a purpose for being there, and oh what a grand purpose it was. The figure, who was distinctly male, identified himself as Kanon- an alias of course, and a flimsily chosen one at that, but it was enough to make him at least _appear _human.

Kanon had been spying- no _stalking _his prey for hours- studying their behaviors and habits with a trained eye. He had only saw two of them for a long while, however. The third had not returned to the research building until rather late, after the rest of the people in the building had already fallen asleep.

This had not been an inconvenience to Kanon, for he had learned much about the two men that he had spent several hours watching. Not that knowing his prey would come in handy for this particular killing. In fact, the three men- including the man who had not long since gotten to the research building, were simply technicalities in Kanon's master objective.

His true prey was not present at the research building. His current residence was at the hospital; where he had been taken to recover from his injuries after being in an 'accidental' car crash. His name was _Lin- _Lin Koujo to be precise. The name caused a vile taste in Kanon's mouth, and he grimaced in irritation.

He wanted the world to be rid of the likes of Lin Koujo. As much as he detested all of the cowardly individuals in the class of spiritualist that Lin identified himself as part of, the injured Onmyodo himself was Kanon's primary target.

Kanon had for years wanted nothing more than to utterly destroy Lin. However, he had never known what was most important to the Onmyouji, who's adeptness in being stoic make him rather difficult to read. But now, Kanon knew that Lin did not have a single most important thing to him, because in reality, what Lin cared about the most was a _collection _of people, not simply a single mortal.

This truth made Kanon's job all the more fun; he had more time to draw out Lin's torture. He had the utterly _irresistible _opportunity to prolong Lin's suffering more than he had ever hoped to have the power to do. He could slowly, methodically, harm or even kill everyone that the Onmyouji had ever interacted with. By doing so, he could quite literally break the black-haired man's mind.

And then, after he had his fill of emotionally and physically torturing Lin to the point of collapse from a mental breakdown, Kanon would strike the final blow. He would mercifully end the life of Koujo Lin.

Kanon's mouth turned upwards at the corners. His lips opened into a wide, sadistic looking grin, accentuated by rows of snow white fangs. Kanon laughed dementedly. He could hardly wait to carry out his grand plan.

He reveled in the fact that Lin would know complete despair soon enough.. But for now, he had to start with the three men in Shibuya Psychic Research. They were siblings of Lin's; the three that had been left alone when they're only sister had been kidnapped.

The kidnapping had been Kanon's doing- the first step forward in his plan. He had realized in past observations of Lin that he seemed to have a close relationship with his sister. He had hoped that the act would send Lin into a spiral of depression- maybe even one severe enough for Lin to attempt to take his own life.

No such luck. The damned Onmyouji had not taken his own life, and had not spiraled out of control. Though he seemed to very much be worried for his sister's safety, he had retained his sanity throughout the ordeal.

No matter; Kanon had many, _many _more tricks up his sleeve, and he was excited to use his entire reservoir of tools whose purpose was to thoroughly torture Lin in as many ways possible.

But for now, Kanon had to remain _entirely _focused on the task at hand; he could cause grief about his sister's disappearance as much as he wanted later. It was Lin's brother's time to shine, and Kanon wondered how they would do.

Ready to move, Kanon used the power of intangibility- one of the many tools of his trade, to phase through the roof of SPR. He landed in a low crouch inside the darkened reception room- as expected, not a single light was on in the vicinity.

The absence of light did not affect the dark-haired infiltrator's ability to see. In fact, it had quite the opposite effect. Kanon's eyes were equally adept at seeing in either light or dark conditions. The darkness simply shrouded him from the eyes of the mortals whose sight was limited to only having full visibility in a well-lit area.

It was just another way that Kanon surpassed the humans who he had come to kill. He could end their lives easily, before they even realized he was there. And by time they did, it would be far too late for them to save themselves.

Scanning the area, Kanon smiled wickedly. The coast could not have been more clear- his intended victims could have at least attempted to make his infiltration more exciting. But no matter. Plenty of excitement would be in store for Kanon after his plan succeeded.

Taking care to walk silently, Kanon walked towards Lin's office where his brother's had set up futons to sleep during their stay at SPR. He quickly phased his entire body through the wall, landing inside the room. He became solid again- remaining immaterial would drain his energy rapidly he paired it with any other energy draining attacks.

It was dark inside the office as well. The sounds of relaxed breathing could be heard from the center of the room, where Kanon's three targets slept. His first task was to buy himself some time. There was no way in hell that the commotion that attacking three men while they slept would not wake up everyone else in the vicinity. Kanon needed a diversion. This diversion came in the form of a basic time manipulation spell. The spell was not powerful enough to stop time in its entirety, however it was able to slow it down where minutes crept along.

Though terribly basic, the technique would drain Kanon's energy drastically in a short amount of time. He had mere minutes before the spell would become too much and he would have to allow time to return to its normal pattern. Kanon closed his eyes briefly, focusing on the area around him. Seconds later, the illusion was cast over SPR's vicinity.

Kanon felt slightly lethargic, but that meager detail couldn't be allowed to slow him down. He had too much to do, and very little time. Glancing around the office again, Kanon randomly chose his first prey; Draidyan, the oldest of the children of the Lin family.

Draidyan slept on a futon directly in front of Lin's desk. He laid on his stomach, with a blanket covering his lower torso, leaving his bare, except for various tattoos, upper back exposed. His glasses laid on Lin's desk.

Kanon couldn't help but notice how utterly vulnerable the oldest brother looked. His task would likely be over before he had time to thoroughly enjoy it.

Thinking carefully about what his method of disposing of Draidyan would be, Kanon decided on giving the thirty year old one of the most painful deaths that he knew how. He would have to enjoy Draidyan's death- he would likely not have as much time to dispose of the other two brothers once Draidyan had been finished off.

If such a thing were to happen where Kanon would not be able to kill Lukida and Nazuke in a glamorous way like he had intended for Draidyan, he would be forced to kill them in other, less supernatural related ways.

The black haired infiltrator had a black pouch strapped to his side. The pouch contained several needles filled with drugs and poisons that could be injected into a victim's bloodstream. He also had a small knife concealed in the pouch. It would do serious damage if wielded by the correct person. He didn't expect to have to resort to those means, but he always came prepared.

Those two methods were agreeably less engaging than using his powerful mental and physical torture methods on the three unsuspecting brothers, however Kanon's primary objective was getting the job done, not worrying how to accomplish his task. In reality, it didn't matter how the job was done, as long as it was indeed done.

Grinning sadistically, Kanon closed his eyes, which were the color of the purest ice, and focused on his hand. He clinched his fist together twice, willing his extremity to heat up. After a few seconds of fierce concentration, it did, and bright orange fire welled up inside Kanon hand. The intense heat was in stark contrast to Kanon's chilly white-blue eyes.

To ensure that the sudden brightness did not awaken his targets, Kanon focused on the fire in his hand again, willing it to dim. The bright light all but vanished, and Kanon smiled in satisfaction.

The infiltrator silently approached Draidyan, who still slept on his futon. Upon closer inspection, Kanon realized that the oldest of the brothers did not look at ease at all. In fact, he appeared as though he had not relaxed after falling asleep. His lean muscles were tense; he looked like a cobra ready to uncoil and strike.

Kanon was far from afraid of Draidyan, however. He was not afraid of any member of the team of researchers in SPR. None of them knew what he was, or what his purpose for being here. He was, in all sense of the word, a ghost. Or maybe if you preferred, a demonic spirit.

The technicalities didn't matter just then. All would be explained in one way or another later. What did matter then was Draidyan. Determinedly, Kanon took the last few steps towards the sleeping thirty year old. Kneeling down to his target's level, Kanon focused on the fire in his hand again, willing it to become excruciatingly hot.

It caused minor discomfort in Kanon's fist, even after years at becoming adept in the art of element manipulation. He could only imagine how the heat would feel against Draidyan's exposed back. He hoped it burned like the hottest pits of hell and would make Draidyan wish that the Devil himself would save him from his agony.

Shivering in anticipation, Kanon was about to set to work on his first task, before he remembered that when Draidyan cried out in pain, as with the extent of the injury to be inflicted on him, he most definitely would, which would cause him to unintentionally alert his two sleeping brothers.

Rolling his eyes in frustration, Kanon focused his attention on Nazuke and Lukida. Using one of the tools in his reservoir of mental abilities, he used a spell that would put the brothers into a dream state until his task was complete. Neither would be able to awaken unless Kanon specified that they were allowed to.

Satisfied, Kanon reached towards Draidyan with the hand that held the fire. He placed his hand against the oldest brother's cold, exposed flesh. A sizzling sound ensued as Kanon traced something into the raw flesh of Draidyan's back.

Seconds later, a strangled scream initiated in the office, and if it had not been so loud, Kanon would have smiled in pride at the pitch of the noise his fire elicited. Instead of smiling, Kanon remembered the other researchers sleeping in the vicinity. They would storm the room soon enough- Kanon was in a rush against time to finish off the other two victims.

Leaving Draidyan writhing in agony on the futon, Kanon made his way over to Lukida, who was still sleeping on his back. He too was shirtless, and Kanon smiled; they were making his job far too easy to be thoroughly enjoyed.

Only slightly discontent at having having to switch to less engaging means, Kanon extended the long fingernails protruding from his right hand.

Poising the tip of one sharp nail at one side of Lukida's ribcage, Kanon began cutting the man's flesh into the shape of words that would not be tangible enough to read until the blood was washed away. But then and only then, a small hint of Kanon's objectives would be revealed.

Lukida, under the influence of the dream state, did not awaken even after the wound began pooling blood rapidly. His eyelids twitched but did not open. At that point, the dream state was probably a mercy as he did not have to feel any pain from the newly inflicted wound.

That dissatisfied Kanon more, however he did not allow his spirit to be dampened. He still had one more target to handle, and he could hear groggy footsteps as people got out of bed all around SPR's base. Kanon merely had minutes- maybe even just seconds to finish off Nazuke.

He was about to get to work when an agonized voice stopped him cold in his tracks.

"Don't touch Nazuke. You hurt Lukida. You hurt me. I'm assuming that you're the one who caused Koujo to be in that wreck. Hell, you're probably even the bastard who took Lifen. Leave Nazuke out of this,"

Kanon turned around slowly- methodically, and met the cold silver eyes of the oldest Lin brother. His face was sweating exceedingly, most likely due to fever from the wound. He could barely hold his head up, and his complexion had a sickly pale pallor to it. Even with all of those factors in play, Draidyan still looked fierce, like a wounded cobra hellbent on striking. Despite the gruesome injury on his back, the thirty year old still possessed the strength to fight the time manipulation spell, as his voice was not slowed when he spoke. He was truly a strong being.

Kanon couldn't help but feel the slightest amount of respect for the man. He knew, without a doubt, that the burn had to hurt worse than anything else that Draidyan had ever experienced in his life. Regular cooking burns could be exceptionally painful. With burns inflicted via supernatural means, you could safely amplify that pain by one thousand to reach a close estimate of how much Draidyan's burn had to be affecting him.

Even so, he did not seem in the least bit worried about himself. Rather, he was worried about what torture would be inflicted on his youngest brother. It took strength to manage such a feat- it seemed that Draidyan had no deficit of that trait.

Kanon offered a slight grin in Draidyan's direction. Chills shot painfully up the injured man's spine, but he managed to avoid flinching. He met his adversary's eyes coldly, portraying ever ounce of strength in his body in that one look.

Kanon shook his head. Draidyan was in far too bad shape to do anything to protect Nazuke- yet he insisted on trying anyway. Kanon thought he knew the word to that action. It was... devotion.

A useless human emotion if you asked him, but one very strongly felt all the same. Kanon could not feel the emotion himself, however he could observe the mortals who did feel it.

Draidyan obviously wanted nothing more than to protect Nazuke, even at the cost of his own life, which with the grave wound across his back, might be hanging in the balance anyway. Realizing this, Kanon smirked coldly.

"I wonder how much pain you're in at this very moment- I'm well aware of the heat of my inferno. In fact, after being subjected to a burn like that, its extraordinary that you're still conscious,"

Draidyan sweat dripped. It was true that he was in excruciating pain- so much pain that his vision was going blurry. But despite his pain and veiled fear, his words came out strong.

"Its because of sheer force of will that I haven't passed out. I won't pretend that I can't feel the burn. Honestly, I can feel it radiating throughout my entire body. Though I have something strong then my body's reaction to pain. I have the desire to protect someone that I love dearly. I failed at protecting two of my brothers, and my sister. I sure as hell won't fail at protecting Nazuke,"

Kanon was tiring of Draidyan idiotic sense of heroics- couldn't he see that this fight had been over before it had begun? Kanon had always been the predetermined winner, and the Lin family the loser. There was no way out of the cycle except for to let it continue until Koujo Lin was dead, or mentally unstable enough where he was a shell of himself who was just begging for his pain to end.

"Do you really think that you can do anything to protect your brother?" Kanon began condescendingly, not waiting for Draidyan to answer. "You're hyped up on adrenaline, not your own stupid sense of bravery. Once that adrenaline flees your system, you'll die, or at the very least lose consciousness. You won't know until much later what tortures that I inflicted on your dearest baby brother,"

Draidyan's face paled What could he do to protect Nazuke? In his condition, the answer was blatantly clear.

"I know you're right- there's not much that I can do, but-" Draidyan began, but stopped as a frantic look appeared over Kanon's face. The black haired infiltrator's energy was getting low, and the slow time spell was already weakening. He had only minutes left to accomplish his task, and he had another choice to make; whether or not to remove the dream illusion from Lukida and Nazuke. The potent spell drained extreme amounts of his energy, and paired with the time manipulation spell, could cause Kanon to uncontrollably collapse from exhaustion.

On the other hand, removing the spell would cost him valuable seconds that he would need to escape. But if he didn't remove at least one, if not both of the active spells, he'd most certainly not leave SPR. Despite the possible time repercussions of removing the spell, the choice was an obvious one.

Kanon raised his hand, clenching it into a fist and focused on the two unconscious men under his illusion. He brought the fist downwards, and felt a snap in his mind as the illusion was broken. Feeling motr lethargic then earlier, Kanon turned towards Nazuke, who had been released from the dream spell. The youngest Lin brother's sapphire blue eyes were open, and he met Kanon's icy gaze.

Realization dawned on the twenty-two year old, and his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Who the fu-" Nazuke began to ask, but a glare stopped the profanity before it could roll of of his tongue. Kanon was starIing at the sapphire eyed man with a dark eyebrow raised and ice blue eyes calculating.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd refrain from using **that **kind of language in my presence, if you value the life of your precious younger sister. She asked me about you, if you weren't aware." Kanon managed to threaten and taunt Nazuke at the same time.

Nazuke flinched reflexively, and the curse died on his lips. He was in the presence of the man who had taken his sister. The thought made his blood boil, yet he could not bring himself to stand up from the floor.

It took Nazuke a few seconds to realize what the unknown force that held him to the floor truly was. The truth made him bite his tongue in rage. He was afraid- afraid to get up and fight for the fear of being killed. He was a coward, and he knew that Kanon could sense it. Maybe he could even detect it in his mannerisms.

The thought made Nazuke sick to his stomach. When exactly had he lost the courage he had possessed during his younger years? He was only twenty-two- did one's sense of courage and confidence in themselves begin to deplete with age?

No. Nazuke knew that couldn't be the case- Draidyan, Lukida, and Koujo were all solid years older then him, and al three had immeasurable amounts of courage. So the sudden deficit of courage had to be the product of the impossible odds precariously stacked against him. Subconsciously, he had sensed Kanon's power, and his sense of self preservation had kicked in, coercing Nazuke not to initiate further conflict with Kanon.

Being afraid was a natural reaction in his circumstance. It had nothing to do with his courage, or seeming lack thereof. The thought brought him little comfort, but it gave him an explanation to ease his mind.

Nazuke met Kanon's eyes again. His adversary smiled slightly. Nazuke fought back the grimace that wanted to form on his face. Instead, his face remained perfectly stoic, even though his reflexes were on high alert. The expression on Kanon's face was far from friendly.. it was calculating.

"You turned into a tame dog rather quickly. Makes my job quite a lot more simple. If you've already been beaten into submission without even knowing what I've done to your brothers, then I might not even have to make an example of you," Kanon said, turning his head to look behind him at Draidyan, who had since closed his eyes.

Nazuke didn't think before he jumped up from the floor with every intention to run to his brother. Draidyan heard the frantic footsteps and his eyes popped open. But it was too late for his warning to reach his brothers ears.

"Nazuke don't!" the burned man yelled, but it was to no avail. He watched in silent terror as Kanon grabbed Nazuke mid-stride. The twenty-two year old was put into a tight headlock. Kanon held him in that position for a few seconds, effectively subduing him before turning his hand immaterial.

Without hesitation, Kanon rammed his hand through his victims midsection, allowing his hand to solidify inside of Nazuke's body. Nazuke shuddered as his eyes widened. Blood shot from the youngest Lin brother's mouth onto the hardwood floor, and his sapphire blue eyes rolled into the back of his head.

Kanon extracted his hand from Nazuke's body, allowing the man to slide to the floor. Nazuke Lin was still.  
Lukida, who had been awoken by the commotion, yelled in anguish while clutching his own stomach where Kanon's claws had sliced into him.

Draidyan's head dropped back onto his futon. He no longer had the strength to fight. He hadn't been able to protect them. How had he failed so miserably at the task that he had put on himself?

Mercifully he didn't have much time to ponder that question before Kanon himself fell to his knees on the floor. The infiltrator had exhausted too much energy to continue using the time manipulation spell. He had to escape before the rest of the researchers bombarded the office. There was no doubt that though unable to move, they had heard the altercation and were on their way .

The thought was seconded by a loud crash. The door to Lin's office had been thrown open, and Naru stood in the entryway, dark hair disheveled and clothing rumpled.

"What the hell?" he asked, catching sight of Nazuke lying on the ground surrounded by a puddle of blood. His eyes then fell on Kanon, who instantly shot up from the floor. He ran towards the window at the far corner of the room. He proceeded to forcefully slam his shoulder through the glass, and fling himself out.

Once outside of the confines of the office, dark black wings shot out from Kanon's shoulders. Barely able to keep himself afloat, Kanon flew as far away from Shibuya Psychic Research as he could. Not longer after, the last of his energy drained.

He fell from the sky and landed in a bush about two miles from his escape point. The fall did not harm him. Even if it had, he was not conscious to realize it.

Kanon slept.

Inside SPR, chaos had broken loose. People were everywhere, trying to determine what exactly had happened. Ayako was hovering over Nazuke, trying to assess the damage done to the youth's internal organs. Her expression was grim and she shook her head sadly.

"Its bad. I'm not going to lie to you. I can't do anything for him- I'm not sure if fully trained doctors can save him," the red haired woman admitted, stepping away from the gruesome sight before her.

Nobody knew what to say for several seconds, until Draidyan's agonized voice rang through the area.

"Help me up- I might be able to heal some of the damage done to him," the oldest Lin brother said, meeting monk and Naru's gazes.

Ayako huffed in irritation.

"Are you by chance a doctor?"

Draidyan chuckled weakly.

"No. Far from it in fact. But I do have the power to heal injuries. How much I can heal them depends on my energy level, which honestly, is not very high right now. But I'm fairly confident that I can heal him the point that doctors can save him,"

Shocked, Ayako simply gestured towards Monk and Naru. Mai, who had been standing in the doorway clinging to Masako in her shock, came to life.

"Can I do anything to help?" she asked, cinnamon brown eyes filled with concern. Ayako smiled comfortingly.

"Yes. Go to the restroom and get all of the towels and washclothes available. We've got to staunch some of Nazuke and Lukida's flow of blood,"

Without hesitation Mai ran out of the room, leaving Masako to trail dejectedly behind her. After that, Naru and Monk set about the difficult task of helping six foot nine and a half Draidyan get up from the floor. Yasu stood behind them grimly, prepared to offer aid if needed.

After a few inches of raising to his full height, Draidyan gasped in utter agony, no longer able to breathe. The pain in his back was **excruciating**. The older man's head swam mercilessly, and he genuinely felt like he was going to lose consciousness.

Monk and Naru allowed him several seconds to catch his breath. Even after he could breathe better, his head still felt clouded by pain and fever. He made no effort to move forward, as connection from his brain to his limbs seemed to have been cut off.

It took verbal and physical urging from his two supporters to make him make him stand up straight and move his feet forward. Those few steps to Nazuke were the most painful moments of his life- never before had he felt the agony of being burned quite so brutally.

When he finally reached Nazuke, Draidyan was slowly guided to the floor next to his near dead brother. Nazuke's face was paler then usual, and his breathing was deathly shallow. The grievous wound on his stomach was still steadily flowing blood. Draidyan almost didn't know where to start. Nazuke had fallen apart, and his oldest brother didn't know how to put him back together again.

It enraged him how the man called Kanon could do so much damage to someone so young, and not feel the slightest amount of remorse. What had they done to him?

Draidyan had a feeling that the answer was much more complicated then he could grasp at that moment- plus, Nazuke's breathing was becoming ragged. He needed healing fast. Realizing that he didn't have much time if he was going to save his younger brother's life, Draidyan set to work healing him, for the moment forgetting all of his pent up rage towards Kanon's seemingly uncalled for actions. There would be plenty of time to exact revenge later, he silently hoped.

Several miles away from SPR, Kanon laid in the grass inches away from the bush where he had crashed landed. He had awoken moments later and gotten himself out of the spike filled foliage, only to collapse again on the softer ground. He barely had the energy to lift his head up, and certainly wouldn't be able to walk, let alone fly. He needed rest, but he refused to succumb to the need.

He refused to see the visions- dreams, whatever they were, that would haunt him if he slept. Dreams that he didn't understand- nightmares so much like the ones that he caused Lin to experience that he almost felt bad for using his power. He truly didn't want to admit the reason that the dreams bothered him so much.

The nightmares bothered him for several reasons- the most prominent one being that they spoke to a side of Kanon that he was not aware that he possessed. A side of him with human emotions, one that knew what he was doing to Lin and his family was utterly wrong. Most of the time when he was awake, Kanon had no problem blocking out those thoughts. They retaliated by catching him in his sleep, where he was powerless to defend against them.

But the more that he attempted to stay awake, the weaker his body got. He could only go so long without sleep before it started adversely affecting him. If he didn't sleep soon, it would take him days to regain his energy. Kanon didn't have days to waste. He was already incredibly impatient about the situation. If any more of a wait was imposed on his plans, he'd have to do something drastic to compensate.

Realizing that his impatience was slowly driving him insane, Kanon attempted to lift himself up from the ground. He had to do something other then remain laying there. His body protested violently, and Kanon fell back onto the grass, panting with effort. He was quite literally grounded.

It was in that annoying moment that the winged being 'spirit' realized that he had no choice left except for to sleep to regain his lost energy. Sighing in defeat, Kanon closed his eyes. He was asleep within minutes.

Kanon's sleep was far from restful. For some reason, it was plagued by images of what he'd done to Lin's family. He could see all of the blood, and the looks of agony on the three brother's faces as they were all injured one by one. It raised emotions in him that he didn't know how to cope with- sadness, regret, grief, but most notably, shame.

He was ashamed of what he'd done. Kanon had never been ashamed of anything before, but somehow, he knew the name to what he was feeling. It didn't matter how he knew, it only mattered that he was feeling this emotion, and it wouldn't leave him alone.

Why did he feel shame for what he'd done only in his dreams, when in his waking hours he felt to remorse of guilt for his actions? Was it because when he was sleeping that was the only time that he was not conscious enough to lie to himself?

Kanon was stuck in this never ending cycle; he had no way to answer the questions on his mind, but could not wake up so that they would stop haunting him. It was an endless, frustrating paradox that he wanted to get out of.

But alas, the only thing that would grant him reprieve would be sleeping until he could see the light again. For now, he was destined to walk the path of self discovery and pain.

In the waking realm, about an hour and half had passed since Kanon's attack of Shibuya Psychic Research. The three injured brothers had been loaded into ambulances and taken to the hospital. Nazuke was very loosely stable according to the EMT who had loaded him into the ambulance.

He hadn't question how the injury hadn't killed Nazuke, and Draidyan hadn't given him an answer to his silent question. It was a silent agreement between the two men not to question things that could not be explained.

Naru was walking towards Lin's room, and grim but determined expression on his face. He had to deliver the news to Lin that his brothers had all been brutally injured. It was not a task that the young researcher wished was on him, but he was well aware that he was the one that Lin would want to hear the news from.

Reaching Lin's room, Naru knocked briefly before pushing the door open. Lin was laying on the bed, his head turned to the right. His eyes were closed, the black fringe normally situated over his blind right eye flipped messily backwards.

Upon hearing the heavy door close, Lin's eyes popped open. The expression on his face was cold as he stared at the teenager standing in front of him. Realization dawned on him, and his expression warmed slightly, but his eyes still remained heavily guarded.

"Noll, what are you doing here at this hour?" he asked, staring out the blinds of his room to the darkened early morning sky.

Naru sighed heavily before rubbing his temple- something that he did subconsciously when nervous. Lin quirked a curious eyebrow in response. Naru decided against any sort of sugar coating of what he had to say to his bodyguard- he knew Lin well enough to realize that Lin wouldn't appreciate the effort.

"Lin, SPR was attacked. Draidyan, Lukida, and Nazuke were all injured," the teenager announced carefully. Lin's expression instantly changed to one of complete shock, then to utter rage.

"What the hell do you mean SPR was attacked?"

Naru shook his head warily.

"I mean just that. Someone broke into SPR and attacked while we were all sleeping. From what I saw in the moment before the attacker fled, he had black hair. It was dark in your office, so I wasn't able to see as much as I would have liked. He crashed through the window before we could capture him- I'm assuming he could survive the fall,"

Lin closed his eyes as he began shaking uncontrollably. He couldn't take this- he couldn't take this much pain. Seeing everyone he loved get hurt was too much for his already overworked brain. The Onmyouji laughed, though it came out as more of a moan. Naru stared at his bodyguard in shock, but said nothing.

"They were attacked too? In my office, while I was here, unable to help defend them at all. Its the same damn thing that happened when Lifen was taken. I was here, not there, where I should have been. I could have protected her, just like I could have protected them," Lin's eyes popped open and he grabbed the television remote on his bedside table. He proceeded to throw at at the far wall. It shattered on contact, and the broken shards fell to the ground like the pieces of Lin's sanity.

"I could have protected them!" he yelled, anguish written across his face. "If only I had been there. Why wasn't I there?" he asked, but Naru realized that Lin was asking a rhetorical question and was not really expecting an answer. It was beside the point that he did not have one to give.

Lin relaxed back on the bed. After a moment, he stared at Naru, who had not spoken or moved an inch during his outburst.

"Will they be alright?" the question came out more gently then Naru had ever heard his normally stoic bodyguard speak.

Naru didn't want to give the honest answer, though was well aware that Lin would see through the cracks in his facade if he attempted to lie.

"Draidyan and Lukida are in recovery- their injuries were severe but not near as severe as Nazuke's were. Nazuke's internal organs were damaged by the attacker. Somehow he phased his hand through Nazuke's stomach, then solidified it inside of him. The doctors say that he's stable for now, thanks to Draidyan's healing ability. However, if he does not get an organ transplant to replace the damaged organs within a few days...he won't make it,"

Lin's face paled instantly. He tried to speak, but no sound came out. He felt like he was being strangled. Difficulty breathing was an understatement. Lin realized that he wasn't being strangled- he was drowning. He was continuously being dragged under the water and he could no longer keep his head above the icy current.

Sensing Lin's supreme shock, Naru walked to his bodyguard and stood next to him. Not sure of what else to do, he placed a cautious hand on Lin's shoulder. The twenty seven year old turned to meet his charge's gaze. His eyes hardened slightly, and his body stiffened.

"Noll, if you don't mind, I think I'd like to be left alone for the time being," he stated bluntly.

Naru removed his hand from Lin's shoulder, nodded, and left the room. Once he was gone, Lin relaxed as much as possible, trying not to think about anything. He didn't even realize that he'd fallen asleep.

Lin stood in a place surrounded by white lights that that continuously rotated up in the air. He didn't recognize the place, and was positive that he'd never been there before. In reality, the place was gorgeous and a had a very... peaceful and soothing atmosphere. As if it were a place to rest, and be free.

No sound could be heard throughout the area, however Lin got the impression that he wasn't alone. Going on instinct, he turned to his left and saw a familiar figure. Naru- but what was he doing here?

Naru turned and met Lin's gaze. A rare smile formed on the researcher's face. Lin realized that something wasn't right about the scenario- Naru never smiled like that. However...

"Gene?" Lin asked uncertainly, his gaze flickering over the frame of the man standing in front of him- he noticed the slight height difference after a few seconds of observation. Despite Gene being the older of the Davis twins, he had always been a few inches shorter than Oliver's six foot height.

Gene's smiled turned into a grin, and he nodded. "Lin, its great to see you. Circumstances aside, you look like you're doing well,"

Lin smiled slightly in response. "As good as I can, I suppose. I assume you're already aware of the events that have happened of late?"

"I am. I'm sorry about what's been going on with your family- the only advice I can offer you is to keep being strong. You're in great trouble, but you can win," Gene replied earnestly.

Lin stared at the spirit of his dead friend for a moment. "You know what my enemy is, don't you?"

"I do, but so do you. You don't need me to tell you, because I think you already know. Think back to when you were younger- something happened that you only told me about, because you thought I'd understand what happened. I didn't, and gave you some horribly faulty advice," Gene sighed despondently. "I'm sorry that I don't have time to explain more. Think back, Lin. Also, I'm sorry that its my advice that gave you the confidence to let down your guard so much,"

After Gene said that, his body began to swirl in and out of view as Lin returned to the waking realm. Lin wanted to ask him more questions, but realized that his time in the spiritual realm had come to an end. He had astral projected there because his mind was so stressed out due to recent events. He had just received a solution to said events- there was no more reason to remain where he didn't belong.

Lin's eyes snapped open and he was once again in the carnal dimension. Immediately he thought back to all of the past conversations he could remember having with Gene.

One stood out in particular, and it made Lin cringe in realization. When Lin had been sixteen years old, he had began his training as an Onmyouji, capturing five shiki. After that number of shiki has been captured, no other shiki's revealed themselves to Lin.

That was until Lin was nineteen years old. A shiki began tormenting him after a long day of classes at Cambridge. Not knowing what else to do, Lin had bound it to him. For a long time, he had no issues with his six bound shiki.

That was the case until Lin's heart was broken. He had made a mistake with the woman he loved, that had caused her to end their relationship with him. He had been in a bad place emotionally at that time, and his powers had not been under control. He had not understood that if an Onmyouji bound more shiki then he physically had the power to bind, that they could develop their own consciousness- a near human awareness of their surroundings, and break away and kill their masters.

That terrifying thing had happened to Lin; he had asked Gene, as a powerful medium, what had happened to his shiki when he realized that he could only call up five of the six. The one that had seemed to be missing was the first shiki that Lin had bound. It had been Lin's most powerful, complete with a much more adult form then the rest of his Shikigami.

It had broken away somehow, and Lin had been too mentally distracted to feel the mental bond break. Gene had never heard of shiki's breaking away from their masters. Though very young, the medium had been wise, but lacked the knowledge to help Lin. In order to compensate, he had told Lin to ignore the issue unless something happened in particular that he could help with.

Lin hadn't cared either way. He had been plenty powerful with only five shikis- a sixth was not needed. Lin had not known until much later in life what had happened to his shiki. Although he still hadn't understood the danger that he was in, as his shiki had not made an appearance until now.

Lin had no idea why the shiki had decided to show up now, but he knew could take an educated guess as to what its primary objective was.

It was coming after Lin.

A/N Possibly confusing chapter, but I do promise that Kanon's goals will be explained later, as will what happened when he broke away from Lin. I do have a plan for this story, and can't wait to carry it out.


	7. Chapter 7: Affairs of the Heart

A/N So. I don't know what to make of this chapter. I didnt' quite 'just happen'- I've been trying to figure out how to do this part for a long time, but have failed miserably each time. This chapter was actually meant to be something **COMPLETELY** different. But it turned into this. **WARNING** References to sex, nudity, and alcohol consumption.

Also. I **AM** doing NaNo this month so…. Save me?

So he finally knew the truth. Koujo Lin had found out the truth behind what had been slowly tearing his life apart bit by bit. The realization brought him no relief- it was something he should have known all along, really. It was his own ignorance on the subject of his powers that had caused his family so much suffering.

If he had known that his shiki had broken away from his control, none of the events that had transpired lately would have happened. Nazuke would be as healthy and snarky as ever.

Enraged thoughts coursed through Lin's brain. Plans that he could not act upon clouded his mind, frustrating the Onmyouji to no end.

He wanted to do something- make a difference in his situation. But he truly was powerless, wasn't he? He didn't have the smallest idea of how to fight off a shiki who had broken away from his master and was hellbent on destroying the foundations of his life.

How did one fight off a creature that was on the loose due to their own negligence? The answer didn't throw itself at Lin in the form of a sudden well timed epiphany. This was real life, not some anime that Lin could simply cut off when it got too violent for his liking.

Lin knew that he needed to tell Naru about what Gene had told him during his astral projection; however he also knew that the paranormal researcher would have a difficult time accepting the news. Despite the front that the teenager put on, he truly did miss his twin. When Gene had died, he had taken his telepathic link to his brother- Naru had been forced to deal with having only his own voice in his head for the first time in his life.

The Onmyouji intended to avoid telling his charge the new information for as long as possible. What difference did it make when he told him? They wouldn't know how to fight the rogue shiki anyway.

In reality, there was nothing that Lin could do while confined to the hospital except for sleep, which was in truth, something that the chronic insomniac had not been doing much of before being hospitalized. Knowing that it was the only option that would have even the slightest chance of giving him peace of mind, Lin closed his eyes and allowed his mental exhaustion to lure him into a light slumber.

In a room a few doors down the hall, Madoka Mori got up from her bed. She had already been detached from all of the wires that had been put on after the car wreck. She had been lucky- she had no internal injuries, just simple bruises and cuts from the glass.

The man who it was her intent to go and visit was the one who had taken the brunt of the damage from the car wreck, as the vehicles had hit the car on his side, though the nurse had informed Madoka that both of them would be healthy enough to go home the next day if all went according to plan. Lin would be forced to remain on work leave for several weeks with no heavy lifting until his shoulder had healed.

The thought made Madoka wince. She had not seen Lin since their altercation the previous day. How would he react to seeing her now? She knew deep in her heart that he probably wanted more time away from her to get his bearings straight, but she couldn't find it in herself to give it to him. She herself needed the peace of mind that would hopefully come with apologizing for her unjustified action of kissing him without his explicit permission.

It was selfish, she knew. But she couldn't help that the heart needs what it needs, and right then it needed for her to have the very conversation with Lin that she should have had with him years before.

The realization made the pinkette's heart race. She was finally going to get this huge weight off of her chest, after all of the years that she had been forced to endure the torment that had come with being separated from the man she had once viewed as her soul mate.

How had mistakes, misunderstandings, and pride changed her life so drastically? No. The pink haired woman knew so much better. All of those factors had changed more than her life. They had changed the very foundations of her personality, making her afraid of falling in love again, and terrified of trying to make things right with the one who had caused the permanent change in the very mold of her existence.

Taking a shuddering breath, Madoka Mori took the first steps out the door of her hospital room, while forcing her expression to remain painfully neutral. Luckily it was late at night, and there seemed to be no nurses or doctors roaming the spacious hallway- the coast was completely clear of prying eyes.

Refusing to stall a moment longer, Madoka walked to the door marked with the name tag 'Koujo Lin', and pushed the door open. It was dark and silent in the room- the only noises that could be heard were the loud sounds from the machines and... there was something else. Breathing- so relaxed that Madoka could barely hear it, but subtle enough that she definitely wasn't imagining it.

The pinkette moved her gaze towards the sound of the breathing. She was met with a figure laying on its side in the hospital bed. Upon closer inspection, Madoka realized that it was indeed Lin. The Onmyouji's gray eyes were closed, and the steady breathing that she had heard seemed to be coming from him.

It was obvious that the black haired man was asleep. Madoka was surprised at how relieved she felt- he was injured and needed his rest, right? She had no real reason to wake him up- after all, she had waited years to come even this close to bringing up the subject, what was another day, or maybe two?

It would give her more time to gather her bearings as well. She really was not ready to have this conversation with Lin after all. The event that had tore them apart had been a traumatic part of her life- she would be crazy if she were eager to relive something so painful to her heart.

Though it would be difficult, Madoka's heart also told her that she needed to speak to him. They had almost died not too long before- Lin had seemed like he was finally going to open up, then disaster struck. Then that spur of the moment kiss set him off again, and Madoka knew that he would no longer be willing to take the first step of getting their relationship back on track. If it was going to happen, Madoka had to be the one who took the initiative.

Even though she came to that realization, she could still not bring herself to wake Lin up. He looked like he was at peace sleeping, and she didn't want to be the cause of him not getting enough rest. Though the obvious choice was to wait until he woke up, Madoka found herself not being able to remain silent- she needed to say something before she backed out.

"Um..." she began, her voice sounding small and weak; not the best way to start off. She closed her eyes, clenched her fist and took a deep breath, gathering strength. When her eyes opened again, she was ready.

"Koujo," she continued, addressing the sleeping man by his first name, as she had done years before, before events that made them become formal towards each other had transpired, "this might seem out of the blue, but its something that I've been needing to tell you for awhile. In fact, I should have told you this about eight years ago," Madoka began again, taking a brief moment to gather her thoughts- she had so much that she needed to say.

"I'm going to be honest. When you called off what.. you were trying to get me to do, it hurt. More than I let on. I wanted you to explain to me why you suddenly changed your mind, but I didn't have the courage to ask why I'd been rejected by the one I thought loved me unconditionally. I understood years after we broke up what you were trying to do. The more I thought about it the more it made sense, but it didn't fall together completely until it was too late,"

A choked sob escaped her lips. "I wish I had realized what you were trying to do before I ended our relationship. I broke your heart- you never admitted that to me, but I could tell. You changed so much after it happened. You barely looked at me, and only talked to me when you absolutely had to. You probably would have cut me out of your life completely had you not remained in Britain to train Naru. That.. hurt more than anything. I could deal with you rejecting me, but I couldn't deal with you hating me,"

Tears were now streaming undeterred down her face, though the pink haired woman made no attempt to wipe them away. "Maybe I'm being dramatic, but you've been cold towards me for a long time. There hasn't been any warmth when you speak to me- just formality. I miss you, Lin. I really wish you'd talk to me,"

And with those last pain filled words, Madoka turned around and rushed out of the room.

As soon as the door closed, a pair of dark gray eyes slowly opened, revealing that the man they belonged to had been awake throughout the entire conversation directed at him. As soon as Madoka had entered the room, Lin's shiki had become wary towards the intruder. Their feeling of uneasiness had made its way to Lin's subconsciousness via his telepathic link with the bound creatures, which had awoken the sleeping Onmyouji.

Reliving the words Madoka had said to him while thinking that he was unable to hear her caused Lin to blink furiously at the burning sensation that had been slowly pulsating behind his closed eyelids. The feeling was familiar- and very unpleasant. He realized grudgingly that he was close to tears.

Madoka's words had stung his heart, moreso than he'd ever be inclined to admit. Her heart wrenching speech brought back barely concealed memories that the black haired man didn't want to see- flashbacks of a happier time in his life, before one mistake had taken it all away from him.

The memory that had torn apart Lin's heart took place eight years before, when he was still a student at Cambridge University, working on his Biology degree. He was nineteen at the time, though he had the mental capacities of someone twice his age- in truth, that had sometimes been his downfall. The then rookie Onmyouji had never been very adept at socializing with people his age, and therefore remained silent, avoiding interactions with everyone but a select few.

One of those few people that Lin felt comfortable around was his girlfriend, seventeen year old Madoka Mori. Madoka was a senior in high school, which gave her a hectic enough schedule to match Lin's own. Luckily when given the option, Lin had opted to remain at the Davis's house rather than move into a dorm at the large college. Though he was a full time student, during his hours away from school, he was a teacher of quigong to a powerful psychic named Oliver Davis, or Noll.

Teaching Noll to control his powers took up much of the younger Lin's time, making it difficult for him to have a life outside of school and work. Thankfully for him, Madoka was also one of Noll's teachers. She tutored him in her studies of the paranormal on request of Martin Davis.

Martin had said that the pink haired lady was an adept study, and proficient enough even as just his apprentice to be taken on supernatural related cases as a full-time investigator.

Lin and Madoka had met through Luella Davis, who had been a long time friend of Madoka's. When Luella and Martin had jointly decided that their son would need external help if he was going to learn to control his powers before they killed him, they had contacted Lin. They had found him through a website dedicated entirely to practicing Onmyoujis as there were so few still selling their services.

Luella had informed Madoka that a young Chinese man would be living in the house from then on, to act in as Naru's part time guardian and quigong teacher. Madoka's motherly figure had alluded to the fact that Lin was quite handsome, and around her age.

Madoka had instantly taken to Lin, and him to her. Six months after moving to England from China, Lin asked Madoka to be his girlfriend. She had easily agreed, and the two fell quickly for each other.

His being in college had not changed their relationship much, other then making them happier to see each other when their hectic schedules allowed them to go on the rare date. That was the case on that particular night. It was Saturday night, and Lin was free from the cold clutches of studying.

He had called Madoka and asked her to come to a restaurant with him. She had excitedly agreed, much to Lin's pleasure. He had driven to her house in the car that Martin had loaned him and arrived at her house at 7:30 pm.

They enjoyed a peaceful meal at the restaurant, then left. Lin had decided that he'd rather have more time with Madoka in private rather than return home immediately. At the beginning of the week he had received his paycheck from the Davis's, and had no shortage of money.

On a whim, Lin decided to rent a hotel room for them to stay in for the night. He had intended for them to share separate beds, though that had not happened thanks to something that he had hidden away in the trunk of the car.

After convincing Madoka to stay at the hotel with him, Lin had retrieved a bottle of alcohol from his trunk. He had gotten it from one of his older friends at the college- he hadn't asked for it, but the friend had given it to him nonetheless.

Realizing that he'd never want to drink it with anyone else, Lin had decided to open the bottle and enjoy it with Madoka. When he had showed her the bottle, she had been wary, but with only slight convincing from her boyfriend, she had agreed to try the substance.

Several shots later, both teenagers were intoxicated. The bottle had been the first taste of alcohol that either had been exposed to, and neither had known their limits.

Under the influence of the alcohol, one thing had led to another, and before long, Lin had coerced Madoka to have sex with him. It wasn't until the the seventeen year old was completely naked and lying on the bed that Lin sobered up enough to realize that he wasn't ready to perform the act.

He was brutally honest with Madoka, telling her that they couldn't have sex while she was still underage- and to add to that, they were drunk, and neither would remember the event clearly in the morning. He didn't want her to have to live with the regret of losing her virginity in such a way that it would take away from the factors that were supposed to make the event special, like enjoying it with someone you were sure you loved.

Even though Lin had tried to let her down gently, Madoka had felt rightly betrayed and used. Lin had waited until she was naked and completely ready to lose herself to him before he told her that as a couple, they weren't ready. Why couldn't he have changed his mind sooner?

Embarrassed, confused, and hurt, Madoka had gotten dressed back in the clothing that she had so hastily discarded. Then she had fled the hotel, leaving a distraught and half naked Lin standing in the doorway.

Two days later, she had asked Lin to come to a small cafe for coffee. When he had arrived, Madoka had taken him to a booth in the corner of the cafe, far away from listening ears and prying eyes. Lin had immediately assumed that she had called him there to calmly have a conversation with him about their altercation at the hotel.

He could not have been more wrong, as in reality, Madoka had called him there to give him some of the most devastating news of his life; she was breaking up with him.

Her reasoning for ending the relationship was that Lin had used her- gotten her drunk, then convinced her to have sex with him, had decided to call the entire ordeal off as soon as he knew that she wanted to.

The accusation had stung. Lin had not been using her at all- he had genuinely been ready to have sex with her, though that had been under the influence of the alcohol. Sober Lin had not been ready at all for what drunken Lin had been trying to do. Sober Lin just happened to take over Lin's personality too late.

Sober Lin had wanted to protect Madoka's chastity- she was a student in high school. So many girls around her were getting pregnant and dropping out, causing them to miss out on a high school education simply because they were babies caring for babies. Lin had not intended to have sex that night, and therefore hadn't had any sort of sexual protection.

If they had done the deed that night, Madoka could have gotten pregnant, and her life as a senior would have been cut short. Lin had been trying to protect her from that, but also had been trying to protect her from having future regrets. Once you lose your virginity, you cannot under any circumstances get it back. He knew that she might want to share that moment with her husband in the future, and despite their wonderful relationship, he very well might not have been the man she would decide to marry.

To top all of those factors off, Lin himself had been a virgin, and hadn't know whether or not he was mentally ready to not be. He was in college for god's sake- why was he even thinking about it at that time in his life? It wasn't a good time- there were two many risks when he was already more than a year into his college education. It would have been suicide to risk becoming a father at that time- he would not have been able to continue school and help care and provide for a child at the same time.

Despite his avid protests, Madoka had been too hurt to listen to his reason. She had left him at the cafe with his head down on the countertop and shoulders shaking.

His shoulders were shaking in present time, much as they had been in the painful memory. He was now definitely fighting tears, refusing to cry over the past that could not be changed. There was no use crying over spilled milk as it were, how was this any different?

No. That wasn't the case and Lin damn well knew it. This was important to him- Madoka had been suffering so much throughout the years. He couldn't let her pain continue any longer when there was a chance to fix everything.

Jumping up from the bed, Lin stood his full height. Luckily the nurse had told him that if he needed to get up, he could disconnect the wires connected to him without taking the monitors with him as long as he reconnected them once he got back.

This came in handy now as he undid the IV connected his vein, then rushed to the door as quickly as his injured body would allow. He might as well have sprinted towards Madoka's room with the pace at which his long strides carried him.

He reached Madoka's room and threw the door open. Madoka was inside the room, standing beside the bed. She spun around to face the intruder in her room, tears still streaming down her face. Her expression changed to one of shock when she realized who was standing in her doorway.

Without pausing in his stride, Lin walked to his ex love and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his chest, not uttering a single word. Madoka gasped and stiffened in his embrace, but didn't pull away. In fact, she relaxed against the man holding her- comforting her though he was the one who had caused her tears.

She cried into his chest, finally venting all of her pain and frustrations that she had bottled up for eight years. She had missed the feeling of his arms around her- feeling them again made her feel like she was home, and that it was okay for her to be honest with herself.

The honest truth was that she still loved the man whose embrace she was tucked so tightly into. During their eight year long separation, she had never stopped loving him. Her pride had prevented her from telling him that she understood why he had broken up with her.

She could never express her regret for that enough. She had wasted eight years of her life that she could have spent being freely in love with the man she loved. Instead she had spent those years alone, never actively pursuing another relationship though she got many requests to date several men she knew would never capture her heart in the way that Lin had.

She loved him. It really was that simple- no science could explain why she loved him and no one else, and had not been able to get over their past relationship.

In reality, Madoka had no idea if Lin felt the same way about her anymore. Why had he rushed into her room after her so quickly that it had seemed like wild dogs should have been after him? What other reason was there than that he loved her too, and had wanted her to know that she was forgiven?

Better yet, how had he known to come and comfort her anyway? Hadn't he been sleeping when she had spilled her heart to him? Madoka shook her head against Lin's chest as the answer became blatantly clear. His shiki had woken him up- she had known that since their time dating that Lin's shiki were very wary of people and would alert Lin if anyone came near him during times he was vulnerable, like when he was sleeping.

He had been awake throughout their entire one-sided conversation, allowing her to rant at him while saying or doing nothing to defend himself. She realized that this was his way of apologizing and telling her that he forgave her.

The realization brought her eight years of relief. It overwhelmed her to the point that her knees became weak. She began to fall towards the ground and expected to plummet towards the linoleum, but suddenly felt hands wrap around her waist. She looked up into the face of the man who had became her rock. Lin's eyes were open- not open as in the opposite of closed, but open like she could see the emotions behind them. The feelings that Lin usually hid so adeptly from her.

They were exposed to her, and Lin made no effort to hide the way he felt. She could see his pain, relief, longing, and his love for her. The last one made her heart flutter in a way that it had not since her days being his girlfriend.

Seeing the realization on Madoka's face made Lin's heart leap. He could see the forgiveness in her eyes even before he could see it on her face. It was his turn for a spur of the moment action. And this time, he had a feeling that both of them would accept it.

The tall Onmyouji leaned down towards Madoka and captured her lips with his, kissing her like he should have the day before when she had made the same decision as he was making now.

The pair stood in each others arms kissing for several minutes, before Madoka broke the kiss to take a breath. When she did, she smiled openly at Lin, who in a rare moment, returned the gesture, flashing his teeth in the expression.

Madoka felt lighter than air as she laid her head back on his chest. Lin stroked her hair comfortingly for a moment until she broke away and gestured at the bed. Lin raised an eyebrow as he watched her take a seat. Following her lead, he sat beside her.

They sat like that for a few seconds before Madoka took a deep breath.

"Lin, what does this mean?" she asked carefully- she was secretly terrified. This was what she had been waiting for during those eight long years. She was not ready to shatter the illusion, but also not ready to get rid of the chance that it might be reality.

Lin didn't answer right away- he took a moment to carefully consider her question. Did he love her? Yes. He knew without a doubt that he loved her, and had wanted her back all of the years that they had been apart.

So the answer to her question was simple, and rolled off Lin's tongue as naturally as if he had been born to say the words.

"I want to resume our relationship, Madoka. I've missed you- I was wrong to hurt you like I did, and even more wrong to never rectify my error,"

More tears spilled from Madoka's eyes as she laid her head on Lin's shoulder. The onmyouji wrapped his arms around her and held her until dawn broke and the light began streaming in through the closed blinds.

"I've missed you too," she muttered through the tears. The comment caused Lin pain. He had made her miss him even though they had never lost contact. But she didn't mean she had missed him as a person, did she? No. She meant that she had missed their relationship- which Lin was the reason that it had been called off.

He could regret that as much as he wanted, but he could not go back in time and make sure that their relationship didn't go down that path. He could only move on with the future and hope that after all of the events with his shiki were settled, that he could have a happy life with Madoka.

He had her now, and that was all that really mattered. The past could wait, and the future had yet to be written.

A/N This was hard to write. I had no idea how this was going to play out when I started the chapter. Luckily, after a period of deep anger at the fic, Lin led me down the path that he wanted me to be on. Next chapter will hopefully be up within a few days. I hope to get at least three chapters published during NaNo, though I'm not positive if that that'll happen.


	8. Chapter 8: Bait and Switch

Chapter 8 ~ Bait and Switch

**A/N So here it is, chapter 8, after several months of waiting. I did participate in a successful NaNoWriMo, which actually led to the completion of this fic. I'm trying to get all of the chapters edited and published, but that'll be a slow process as I'm transitioning to the move to a new house and state after my mom died on 2/1/16. The next seven or so chapters will be published as they're edited, with one possibly being published as a one shot. More on that later.**

Monitors beeped loudly from somewhere close by, yet beyond Koujo Lin's reach. The Onmyouji was running frantically in the general direction of the noise, but he realized that he wasn't going to get there in time. Nazuke was dying- he felt it in the deepest pits of his heart that his brother's body was failing- the damage inflicted on him by the shiki was simply too much for his system to handle. Lin had to get to him before he died; there were still things that he needed to say to him, pieces of advice that Lin had meant to bestow on Nazuke, but had never gotten around to.

If only he'd been home more- maybe Nazuke would have known how much Lin cared about him. But once a year was the best that Lin had been able to do. He knew that during their time apart he and Nazuke had drifted apart slowly, but surely not enough where Nazuke would ever question whether or not Lin loved him?

Even so, Lin had to get to him. Continuing to run frantically, Lin ran until a room came into view. The area was familiar, and Lin recognized it as a hospital; the sterile scent and white walls giving it away. This was where he needed to be, there was no question about it. Nazuke was here, slowly dying.

The realization made Lin run even faster, desperation powering his movement. He followed his gut, trusting it to lead him in the right direction. Before long, he was approaching the only door at the end of a long hallway. He reached the door and turned the knob slowly, not hesitating in his step as he entered the room.

The first thing Lin laid his eyes on was a bed in the center of the room. Lying on the bed was none other than Nazuke. Heavy breathing could be heard alongside the sound of the beeping machines that had continuously been tormenting Lin.

Approaching the bed slowly, Lin mentally prepared himself for the worst. He was about to lose his little brother, and he had absolutely no control over the situation. Regrets filled his mind, though he paid them no heed.

Instead he stood beside the bed and stared at Nazuke's sleeping but still pain filled face. He took his brother's hand and moved his gaze to Naz's wrist, where a tattoo of a dragon took up much of his exposed skin.

However, after a moment of staring at the tattoo, it began to disappear from Lin's field of vision. Horror filled Lin's mind as he turned his gaze back to Nazuke's face, afraid that the rest of his brother was fading away as well.

Only it was no longer Nazuke laying in the bed the Onmyouji slowly realized. Instead, the person most distant from Lin's mind and heart laid in the bed. It was his father, Dajun.

As soon as the realization hit Lin, Dajun's slate gray eyes opened, and his hand clamped around Lin's wrist. Lin cringed and tried to step away, but became frozen in place when the monitor beside Dajun began beeping furiously, and Dajun's eyes rolled back into his head. The grip on Lin's wrist slackened.

Shocked and confused, Lin felt himself plummeting towards the floor, his legs suddenly devoid of strength.

Just before he hit the swirling darkness surrounding him, a voice jolted him out of his dark reverie.

"Lin, wake up,"

Koujo Lin shot up forcefully from the bed he was lying on, very nearly headbutting the woman whose head was hovering in front of him. Slowly opening his eyes, Lin was met with a concerned pink gaze.

Madoka stepped back to give him room to breathe when she realized that he was awake. Lin sat on the bed breathing hard before running a hand through his thick fringe. Madoka waited patiently for him to address her, although it soon became apparent that he wasn't willing to bring up whatever had caused his outburst.

Sighing despondently, Madoka placed a gentle hand under Lin's chin, forcing his head up. The dark haired man met her eyes grudgingly. For a brief moment, Madoka could see intense pain in his eyes, but it was gone in an instant. Lin breathed deeply, resigning himself to the fact the pink haired lady already knew that something was wrong.

"I had a nightmare- nothing more, nothing less. It unnerved me a bit is all. It felt like it was going to play out one way, but ended up going down a different and unexpected path,"

Madoka shook her head in disagreement.

"It was more than a nightmare, and it unnerved you more than just a little bit," Madoka chastised Lin gently as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Lin lowered his head, not quite able to meet her gaze. He was well practiced in not showing his emotions, though he felt less practiced in hiding his emotions from her. Maybe it was a good thing- he could use an emotional outlet. He kept what he was feeling inside all the time, and never vented like most people would need to before long. Especially after experiencing shock after shock as he had.

Maybe talking to her would be a good thing? It certainly couldn't hurt at the very least. Resigning himself for a conversation that would unavoidably invoke some sort of emotion from both of them, Lin closed his eyes and took a breath.

"Fine. You're right- it wasn't like the other nightmares that I've been having; it felt completely real. It started with me running towards Nazuke's hospital room. I was frantic- someohow I had the most distinct feeling the he was about to die. I knew that I had to get there before it was too late. When I finally got there, Nazuke changed into my dad, and the heart monitor flatlined. He- my dad, died,"

Madoka's brow furrowed in concern, though she didn't say anything in response.

Lin noticed this and took it as his cue to plunder on through his account of what had occurred during the time he had been sleeping.

"I didn't notice that anything was peculiar while I was dreaming, though now that I think back to it, nothing was as it should be. When the dream first began, I was standing amidst nothing- it was like a blank white canvas, with nothing else painted there aside from myself. Then as I began feeling the sense of hysteria that I needed to get to Nazuke, rooms slowly began appearing as I ran by them. I'm certain that they weren't there at the start of the dream, though that didn't dawn on me until now. I should have realized that it was a dream at that moment, though I was fully under the illusion,"

"Illusion?" Madoka asked incredulously. "So you don't think that it was a simple dream?"

Lin paused for a moment, pondering the inquiry.

"I'm not sure. It felt so real. Maybe I'm reading too far into it, but it feels like I shouldn't forget what happened," he admitted.

"So you think that your dad or Nazuke might be in danger?" **Madoka asked carefully**, as to not upset Lin.

Lin's fist clenched at his side. "I don't know. I don't know what to trust and what to discredit. I haven't known anything since this walk through hell started," Lin looked away from Madoka's eyes and lowered his head. "I hate not knowing. Not knowing leads to me worrying, and I detest being worried about something that I can't see an immediate solution for,"Lin was now clenching his fist so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Noticing this, Madoka leaned over and took his hand in hers gently, to prevent him from hurting himself.

Lin met her gaze for a moment. All in the span of those few seconds, Madoka could see the entire storm that was brewing in his mind, made clear by the cold gray of his eyes.

He made no effort to hide his emotions, and Madoka refused to look away from his intense gaze. It felt like it penetrated deep into her heart. A silent cry for her to give him the answer to his problem before it drove him crazy.

Her heart broke for him; she wished she could help him, but she was just as powerless as he was. They had been dealt a bad hand, and they were forced to continue gambling, even when their odds of winning seemed painstakingly low.

There was nothing they could do until Lin knew more about what was causing everything to happen. Madoka sensed that Lin already knew more than he was telling her, however she didn't push him to talk to her. She knew that he would bring the subject up when he was ready- she just had to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Lin didn't appear like he'd be very willing to have that particular conversation at the moment. He was no longer looking at her, though there was adequate enough pressure on her hand that she knew that he was still there- and very angry. Madoka didn't know what to do to comfort him. There wasn't really a "right thing" to say to him, was there?

How did you tell someone that you were sorry for their brother being beaten so badly that he would need an organ transplant, or it would mean his death? Madoka sure as hell didn't know, and she wasn't willing to think about it. There was no reason to depress herself further over something she couldn't fix. Plus, Lin was slowly falling apart. That much was obvious to the pink haired researcher. She had never seen that much emotion from him, aside from the flashes she had glimpsed when she had broken up with him.

He needed her to be strong for him where he was unable to be. He always kept his emotions bottled up in an airtight part of his mind. It was as if he was afraid to show how he felt. Afraid of being weak, maybe? Whatever the reason, Lin had kept up a stoic mask in public from the time she had met him. It had came down a large bit, though not entirely, when they were alone together. That much seemed to have changed for the time being- though Lin had said that he wanted to date her again, it was obvious that they were not where they had been years before. That level of trust had been broken, and they would both have to work hard to earn their mutual trust in each other back entirely.

Madoka was willing to wait. She was ready to give Lin whatever type of emotional support she could give him at that moment in time. Even if that meant just being there for him- she would stay by his side until everything was back to normal. Whatever the outcome, she intended to be there for him.

And since she intended to be there for him, she needed to do something to lift his spirits even a little. She wanted nothing more than to give a little bit of her strength to Lin. Feeling as though she was walking on thin ice, Madoka ran her hand through Lin's black hair, getting his attention.

For just a second, once he turned to look at her, his eyes were more... gentle than they had been moments before. Madoka stopped the goofy grin that wanted to play across her features. There would be a time and place for her excitement, but it wasn't now. Right now Lin needed her to be serious.

He needed to know that he had someone there for him. It was unclear of how much a relief that it would be for Lin to realize that he had someone in his corner- someone who believed that he could come out of this the winner. But all the same, Madoka wanted him to know so he never felt like he was in this alone.

Lin, once again appearing stormy eyed, wrapped his arms around Madoka's waist, holding her close to him. Madoka laid her head on top of his, reveling in and taking her own sense of comfort in the softness of his hair. She felt safe being around him. His closeness felt like her permission to relax. This sense of relaxation gave her the presence of mind to coherently decide how she was going to bring up the subject on her mind.

"Lin?" She began, her voice sweet and soft, as to not alarm Lin with any sort of urgency in her tone.

"Mhm?" came the muffled reply beside her ear. Lin's head was laid on her shoulder so that she was unable to see his face, but could hear his voice in her ear. With his proximity to her, Madoka couldn't help but feel giddy and light. When they held each other like this, it almost felt like nothing had changed between them. "Madoka- you wanted to say something?" The pressure was lifted from Madoka's shoulder, and she realized that Lin was slowly moving his head out from under her chin.

Blushing madly as she remembered that she had meant to tell the Onmyouji something, Madoka cleared her throat.

"Sorry, I got distracted," She apologized, blushing more until she became a pretty scarlet hue.

Lin chuckled softly- the first time that he had shown any sort of positive emotion since he had woken up from his nightmare. "I can tell, believe me. Its in your voice- you sound like you just woke up from a good dream," At the mention of dreaming, Lin's voice once again took on a dark tone.

Hearing the change, Madoka was forcefully reminded of what she had meant to say to him. Deciding that urgency was better than being distracted by his presence, Madoka moved her head off the top of Lin's so he could look at her. He did, a dark black eyebrow curiously raised.

"I want you to know that you're not alone. I hope you knew that anyway, but I just needed to tell you that you have me here now. I'm going to be by your side until the end, whatever happens. We'll get through this. I see a light at the end of a dark tunnel. It seems far away, but it might be much closer than you think. Just keep driving towards it, Lin. Please. For me,"

Madoka's eyes were beginning to well with tears. Damn, so much for her giving him strength. Lin's face changed from a mask of anger to one of sadness. He had never been able to stand seeing Madoka cry. Something had always seemed entirely wrong with such an upbeat and caring person being saddened to the point of tears. That was part of the reason why he had ran to her so frantically after she had poured her heart out to him.

It was the main reason why he pulled her into his lap now. He carefully swung his legs over the side of the bed and pulled her against him. She allowed him to pull her easily, and nuzzled against his shoulder after she was comfortable in his embrace. Lin could feel the tears streaming from her eyes as they ran down the exposed part of his neck. He didn't wipe them away, instead he worked his hands through Madoka's hair as comfortingly as possible, as she had done to him a few minutes before.

"I know that I'm not alone, Madoka. I never felt like I was. I have you, Naru and the rest of the investigators. I have people in my corner- that was never what I felt like I was lacking. What I know for a fact that I don't have enough of is people who know how to fight an escaped shiki with the particular characteristics that our foe possesses," Lin replied after a moment. It only took him a second to realize that he had included the tell-all sentence 'fight an escaped shiki'.

Madoka sucked in a shocked breath as Lin closed his eyes. He had told her the truth. He hadn't exactly known why he was hiding it from her in the first place, though he assumed that it had something to do with him subconsciously not wanting to make her worry more than she already was. It had slipped out, anyway.

Even with the mindset of not worrying her, he had just as mindlessly told her. And from the intake of breath he had heard, she was terrified of the news. He didn't understand the reason why she already seemed so upset. Did she perhaps know something about how shiki's broke away from their master's control?

"Madoka... you know something about this, don't you?" Lin asked, shifting warily on the bed.

Madoka was shaking against him. "I don't know much, but what I do know is bad, Lin. I wish I had known what was targeting you before I tried to bolster your confidence so much," Lin felt like the ground was tumbling out from under him. Him admitting the truth had in fact made Madoka worry even more than he though it would have.

Her resolve had been broken with a simple statement.

"Madoka, what do you know about warding off or rebinding a shiki that breaks away from its master?" Lin inquired, his voice still trying to hold onto some note of hope that Madoka would know something that could help them.

Madoka began trembling more violently against Lin. The Onmyouji instantly felt the last of his hope drain away. He wasn't sure if he even wanted to hear the truth anymore.

"I don't know exactly how the rebinding process would work, but I do know that it would take a near immesurable amount of energy from the caster trying to bind the shiki. Even more than it would to bind the shiki the first time, as the shiki is no longer a mindless being, but something resembling a human complete with its own thoughts. It could choose to resist being bound to you. It trying to fight back while you're binding it could drain all of your energy if it had that power. Regardless, if it doesn't fight back, binding it to you when you already have more than three shiki bound to you could cause you to lose all of your energy too. You could die, Lin." Madoka was bawling now. Lin could hear her shuddering sobs. Despite her tears, Madoka took a deep breath. "The other method I remember reading about was if the master had some sort of personal connection to the shiki while they were alive. If the caster is able to remind the shiki of the bonds that they shared in life, they can be allowed to move on without an exchange of energy between them and their former master. If this is somehow the case, you'd have no choice but to discover the identity of the shiki, and fast."

The ground was definitely disappearing out from under Lin. He was beginning to feel light-headed- either because of the news he had just heard, or because he hadn't eaten anything in awhile. Whatever the reason, his head was spinning. He could die if he fought the shiki? Was he willing to die to stop the beast? And also, **did** he have a personal connection to his antagonist? Who in life had he lost that would want to haunt him from beyond the grave? Worse yet, what if it really **was** just some freak accident that got him into this situation, and he'd never even come into contact with the shiki who wanted to ruin his life? And even then, what would happen if he did successfully bind the shiki, but the transfer of energh proved to be too much for his body to handle, and it killed him? What would happen after he died? Would the shiki remain in a bound state, or would it once again begin an unstoppable rampage after its master's death?

Too many questions, and too little concrete answers. Lin's mind was completely full of them. It was all too overwhelming. Being completely powerless like this. It scared Lin, more than he was willing to admit. He liked being in control of the situation. He needed to be in control to feel safe.

But him being 'in control' of his shiki was what had caused everything, wasn't it? The irony made Lin laugh out loud. It was far from a pleasant sound. In fact, it sounded almost guttural. Madoka stiffened when she heard the sound. It terrified her. She recognized it as someone who was close to crossing the boundary of sanity into insanity.

"Lin, you're scaring me. Please calm down," Madoka muttered, her voice sounding sad and broken. _She was blaming herself for being honest with him. If she hadn't told him everything in such quick succession, perhaps he would have had more time to cope with the news.

Lin was no longer laughing. Instead he was brutally silent, which truth be told, scared Madoka more than his crazed laughter had. Braving a look at the man holding her, Madoka lifted her head off of Lin's shoulder and peered up into his face. Lin's expression was blank.

It was scary seeing him like that. It was obvious that he was retaining the expression with great effort. His face was slowly draining of color and becoming a ghostly white that contrasted starkly to the dark black of his hair. Madoka was terrified to ask, but she needed to know what had suddenly come over Lin.

"Lin, you look sick. Are you alright?" She said gently, carefully reaching her hand out to touch Lin's forehead. The Onmyouji winced and hissed in pain as her hand made contact with his head. Madoka drew her hand back like she had been stung. What had she done to him?

Lin placed a hand to his head and sat there stiff as a log, waiting for the sudden and sharp migraine to pass. It didn't. Instead, it steadily became more intense to the point that the only thing that Lin could see was black dots dancing across his field of vision. Seeing the obvious pain Lin was in, Madoka jumped out of his lap and hightailed it to the door. She had the intent to run to a nurse to get the suffering Onmyouji medication for the headache.

The only problem was that she never made it to the nurse. As soon as the pink haired researcher opened the door, she came face to face with a tall, dark haired man with ice blue eyes. She froze in her tracks as she saw him. Tears began to well in her eyes as she sensed pure evil exuding from the obstacle standing in her path.

There was no doubt of who stood in front of her. It was the shiki. This realization was seconded by a sharp blast of air that flung Madoka away from the door and into a wall. Lin heard the crash and gasp of pain it elicited from Madoka. His eyes popped open, but the light of the room was too much for his head to bear. He closed his eyes and blinked rapidly, trying to clear them as they began to glaze over.

As soon as they were clear, he realized that someone was standing in front of him. Terror filled him as he used the electromagnetic vision in his right eye to look at the person. He could** see **them. That meant only one thing; whatever standing in front of him was not human. It was **distinctly **related to the paranormal**. **

It was a male with dark hair and penetrating eyes. Lin recognized him instantly. It was the first shiki he had ever bound, and by far his most powerful. A force to be reckoned with and definitely not someone that you'd willingly want to pick a fight with.

As soon as Lin realized exactly who was standing in front of him, Kanon grinned widely

"Hello, Koujo. Its great to see you...its been** far **too long. How have you been? Are your brothers in good health?" Kanon asked sarcastically, his expression changing into a cold smirk. "Oh, who am I kidding? Why would you care about your brothers when you have that precious baby sister to worry about? Unless of course, you don't know** where **she is. What a shame it would be, if something... **unsightly **were to happen to her pretty face. Unless of course, it already has? Hm.. we may never know," Kanon winked for added dramatic effect.

The masterless shiki watched with a smirk as his former master tensed under his overpowering gaze. Lin refused to look him in the eyes, but Kanon could see the strain in took for the Onmyouji to keep the mask of stoicism from sliding from his face. it brought him pleasure to see Lin squirm. Until now he had watched from afar while the former holder of his leash dealt with each and every successive blow.

Now he was face to face with him for the first time in a long while. He had waited for this, watching silently in the background as Lin lived his daily life, free of the concerns that would plague him later on. Don't get Kanon wrong; it was invigorating finally making a move in his plan to tear Lin's life apart. Lifen had been worthy prey when he kidnapped her- she had fought tooth and nail, but with a simple spell, Kanon had rendered her unconscious.

And now, he was in such a close proximity to his main prey. The one who's own inability to maintain control over creatures that he used as his personal slaves had caused Kanon to develop his own consciousness. Kanon had not wanted to be made aware of his surroundings.. not again.

When he was aware of his environment, it brought back thoughts and memories from a different time. Many years before when- no. No. He refused to think about that. Couldn't think about it. It made his new found emotions go haywire. Even more so than they already had been recently.

He hadn't been in control of himself lately- at least not entirely. Almost as if he were a a semi coherent puppet on a string, with seeming control over his body, but still there was a puppeteer somewhere, influencing his motions. It drove him **crazy.**

Seeing the man who was the cause of all of his suffering sitting right in front of him was almost enough to make Kanon lose his mind entirely. He wanted to make Lin pay. Pay for making him aware again, but most of all, pay for forgetting him completely. Could time really wipe someone's memory completely?

Kanon shook his head in an almost maniacal movement. No- time hadn't caused Lin to forget. Lin had chosen to forget that fateful day intentionally, in order to save himself the burden of remembering. Or worse yet.. what if he hadn't in the slightest forgotten, but simply refused to acknowledge that Kanon had ever existed at all?

Kanon could feel himself slipping slowly into the depths of complete insanity. It was a strange and unexpected sensation. He had felt completely in control of himself before coming into the room. But now, seeing Lin up close and undisguised, it amplified the anger coursing through Kanon's mind. Almost as if he was unintentionally feeding off of Lin's own rage.

Kanon didn't care to know whether or not that was the case. It didn't matter. Feeding off of Lin's emotions would only fuel his desire to end Lin's life, so there was no loss there.

In reality, he had no idea why he hadn't went straight for Lin's throat as soon as he had gotten the woman out of the way. But now, looking at Lin more closely, Kanon could see the pain etched into his adversary's face. It looked like something was already hurting Lin, weakening him to the point where he was nearly defenseless in Kanon's presence.

There would be no fun in finishing him off. If he was going to kill Lin, it would be with him fully healed from all injuries and illnesses. If either of them were in any way influenced by an outside force, then it would not be a true test of strength, and Kanon would be unable to take full pride in his hard fought victory.

Even though he could not harm him physically, there were no rules against causing Lin to suffer mentally. He had done that in the form of influencing his dreams for long enough. Being so close to him, there was so much more that Kanon could do, and he could see the satisfying reactions that Lin showed firsthand.

Several ideas ran through Kanon's mind in rapid succession, and he chose one at random. He knew that anything he could say would to some degree unnerve Lin, and that was enough to make him dance with pleasure.

"Oh Lin. I'm so sorry for my insensitive comment earlier. I'm sure that you know **exactly **where your sister is, don't you? Of course her big brother would never let a mean old monster snag her from outside her home, would he? That would be a major failure on his part, and Koujo Lin **despises** failure, doesn't he?" Kanon said in the most menacing voice he could manage. Lin flinched before he could stop himself.

Kanon grinned at the brief reaction. He could almost see the invisible wounds that his words marked on Lin as they cut into his psyche.

It made him feel.. bolder. But also angrier. Kanon once again felt like someone else's emotions were feeding his own, but he ignored the sensation as he took a step closer to Lin and bent down to eye level with the sitting Onmyouji.

"You know that you could have prevented me from kidnapping her, don't you? If only you hadn't left China like the coward you are. Was your father really that scary to you?" Another smirk, this time one showing Kanon's crystal white fangs as they protruded from his lips.

Lin's hands clenched at his side as he tried to prevent himself from punching his former shiki in the face.  
"I didn't leave China out of fear. I received a job opportunity and was accepted into a good college in the same country. It was the best decision I could have made at that time in my life," Lin defended himself, coughing as he felt thickness in his throat.

Kanon nodded in false agreement. "Hm. Maybe the job opportunity was worth it, but was leaving your family halfway across the world also worth it? I was under the impression that you loved the majority of your family greatly... except for your father,"

Lin looked at the ground. "I love my father," he muttered.

Kanon laughed sarcastically. "Do you really love him, or do you just love him as far as standards go? I doubt you'd even notice it if he died unless somebody forced you to watch as he was killed," he paused as another thought crossed his mind. "I just might have to demonstrate what I mean,"

Lin's heart stopped as the implication of the shiki's words fully dawned on him.

"Leave my parents out of this. This entire charade is between you and me. You've already involved too many people who didn't deserve to be caught in the chaos,"

Kanon laughed. "That's where you're wrong, Lin. This 'charade' is between you, me, and whover else I decide I want to put through complete hell. I'm genuinely surprised, and to be perfectly honest, just a tad offended that you feel like you have any sort of say in the game that I initiated," Kanon's laughter ceased, and the noise was replaced by an eery silence as the demonic spirit's face became deadly calm. "Perhaps I need to teach you more of a one-on-one lesson to rectify your foolish assumption that you have any power over your life now. You belong to me, as I once belonged to you. Only I was, as they say, the one that got away. You won't be so fortunate. That's the only difference between us now, slaver," the malice in the word slaver caused Kanon's voice to turn into a low hiss.

Lin sighed in irritation. "I'm a slaver for exercising my craft over a formerly mindless subordinate who had no idea that it was serving me? I fail to see how that's a relavant accusation,"

Kanon's eyes blazed in fury as he shot forward. He was directly in front of Lin in an instant.

"What if there was a point in time where I was not mindless, but had my own life?" he demanded venomously.

Lin smiled coldly. "Ah, I see. So you make a habit of breaking away from a master's control then childishly attempting to destroy them? You do seem like you have experience with the act,"

Kanon slowly raised his right hand up, as if intending to slap Lin. Only the blow never came.

Instead Lin felt intense heat originating from in front of him. He slowly moved his gaze back to Kanon. His eyes fell upon a small flame illuminating from the shiki's hand.

Kanon chuckled lightly. The sound was thick with insanity. "I should burn you alive and listen as you scream vainly for mercy that won't come. But I won't. No, i'll instead move onto the next objective of my plan, gleaming satisfaction knowing that you'll be tossing and turning at night wondering who will be next,"

And with that, Kanon turned on his heel and began walking towards the door. He almost made it, but suddenly Lin shot up from the bed and charged towards him, ignoring the pounding in his head.

Lin never reached Kanon. As soon as he got within range of the retreating shiki, Kanon spun around and hit the Onmyouji in the temple.

Lin's entire world began fading into blackness. He heard one chilling sentence before he lost consciousness.

"You're a fool, Koujo Lin. I was going to let you go, but now you're going to watch." 


	9. Chapter 9: Making Amends

Drip. Drop. Drip. Drop. The sound of water surrounded Lin as he slowly regained consciousness. It became apparent as soon as he opened his eyes that he was no longer in the hospital.

Even with the lights off and blinds closed, the room wasn't this dark. This was... unnerving, almost poisonous in appearance darkness. It encompassed the entire area. Lin could not see where he was, in the least.

He projected his senses outwards, trying to get an idea of his location. He could hear breathing nearby, so wherever he was, he wasn't completely alone.

The thought didn't bring him much comfort. He couldn't see who the other person or persons, were.

In a scenario like this, anything unknown was a possible threat. Especially when he didn't know how he had ended up there.

Thinking back, Lin remembered the altercation at the hospital and cringed. Of course him ending up in this unfamiliar place had something to do with that damned shiki.

All of the sudden, the area became illuminated by a bright glow. Lin flinched at the sudden intrusive light that made the headache that had not went away begin becoming even more prominent. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was once again face to face with the shiki.

He had literally appeared out of nowhere. There was a sadistic smile plastered on his face. Lin resisted the instinctual urge to back up using every fiber of his willpower.

"I told you Lin, you're a fool. I was going to let you go until I was ready to play, but you used that stupid sense of heroics to try and take me down when my back was turned. I don't appreciate your cowardice- in fact, I'm going to have to punish you for it,"

Lin shook his head. "It wasn't cowardice. It was pure instinct to attack you- I saw a possible advantage and took it. Its not as though you wouldn't have done the same," Lin muttered defensively.

Kanon simply rolled his blue eyes. "That's another difference between you and I, it seems. I don't rely on my so called 'instincts' to dictate my movements- everything I do is premeditated to ensure that I won't fail as you did,"

A dark smile crossed his features. "I premeditated what I'm about to do as well...I've prepared this example to prove to you that you're life will never be the same,"

Lin shivered involuntarily in the cold air of the cave. Kanon's smile became a bit bigger as he took a step back from Lin.

"I'm surprised you're not bombarding me with questions- I'm well aware that you have no idea where you are, or how you got there for that matter. I'm also surprised that you haven't asked about your female friend's fate. Did I hit you on the head hard enough for you to forget her, or was that just your natural tendency not to care about those around you kicking in?"

Lin shook his head. "No. I was intentionally not asking about Madoka. I figured you'd use her to torment me, so I refused to be the one to bring attention to her," Lin clenched his teeth together in anger. He couldn't stand the arrogant air that exuded from Kanon. The shiki knew that Lin was powerless in this scenario.

Kanon raised a surprised eyebrow. "Mhm, I see. Well you have to look no further than directly behind you to find her. I left her in one piece- don't worry. In fact, she should be waking up in a few minutes, unless she received some sort of brain damage when I blew her into the wall. If that's the case, I guess the only thing I can say is..sorry for your loss,"

With that comment, Kanon walked away from Lin. Lin watched furiously as the black haired shiki moved towards a figure lying on the ground several feet away. Lin hadn't noticed it before, but now that he did, he realized that it had to be a person.

Forcing himself to remain passive, Lin watched as Kanon knelt beside the figure. Listening intently, Lin could hear the shiki muttering something to the unknown person.

Lin's heart stopped when he heard the response in a gruff, familiar voice speaking Chinese.

"I don't know who you are or why you've brought me to this forsaken place, but you're not going to get a word out of me," Dajun Lin yelled venomously.

Lin jumped to his feet instantly. His father was here. Why was he here?! Lin couldn't think of a logical explanation, but that didn't matter. What mattered at that moment was that Kanon had his dad in his clutches.

A nervous feeling washed over him as he remembered Kanon's disturbing comment before he passed out_ "Now I'm going to make you watch," _No. This couldn't be what he had been referring to, could it? He wasn't really going to hurt his dad right in front of him, was he? Seconds passed as Lin pondered that question. The honest answer was not one that gave Lin any hope. Yes, the sick bastard would go as far as killing his dad, hell he'd probably even use one of his mind control powers to ensure that Lin would, in full detail, see every second of it.

Unsure of what to do, Lin stared down at the ground, overcoming his fear and looking at Madoka. He was surprised to see a pair of soft pink eyes staring up at him. Madoka's gaze was full of sadness. She slowly raised her hand up towards Lin, who grasped it tightly.

Madoka stood up from the ground with Lin's help. As soon as she was standing, she leaned into Lin, wrapping her arms around his waist. She was comforting him as best as she could, he knew. But her efforts made Lin more painfully aware of what was more than likely about to happen.

He began losing the adrenaline rush that had made him forget about the migraine pulsating in his temple. He gritted his teeth together tightly in attempt to block out the pain. He had to be on his toes- he had no choice but to charge through the pain.

"Kanon. What are you doing- Why did you bring my father here?" Lin asked as calmly as he could. He felt Madoka's grip on his waist tighten.

Kanon turned around to face Lin. "I told you what I'm doing- I'm making an example you won't soon forget. As far as how I got your father here- he did most of that on his own. From what I gleamed, he was unable to contact any of his children in Japan. Naturally he began to become worried, and eventually took a flight to Japan to see what the issue was. He happened to make my acquaintance soon after he left the airport. I escorted him to a secluded location, then knocked him unconscious much as I did to you," The shiki gestured towards Dajun who stood shakily on his feet. His blackish-gray hair was disheveled, and his stark gray eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn't been getting enough rest. Even though his appearance suggested otherwise, his expression remained strong.

Lin met his father's gaze for the first time in over a year. Dajun didn't break eye contact. Neither said a word to each other- they simply stood there locked in a silent standoff.

The silence was finally broken by a harsh laugh coming from Kanon.

"You haven't see each other in more than a year if I recall correctly, yet neither of you have anything you wish to say? Seems your relationship is even worse off than I originally assumed,"

Dajun looked at the shiki coldly. "What would you know of my relationship with my son?" he asked, still speaking Chinese. Dajun understood English, Lin knew for a fact. He was simply trying to be complicated to rile Kanon up. It wasn't the smartest move, but it was brave.

Though brave, the plan failed when Kanon smiled. "I know more about your son than you do, I assure you. I also know that you were under the impression that I was blind on how to speak the Chinese language. That's where you're wrong- you see, I'm fluent in several languages. Nothing you say to your son will go unnoticed to me, so don't even consider trying to speak in some sort of code,"

Dajun chuckled. "Speak in some sort of code? What are you, a child who still believes in playing foolish spy games?"

Kanon didn't smile in return. Instead, he grabbed Dajun in a headlock, as he had done to Nazuke days before. The older man fought, but couldn't break the grasp clasped firmly around his neck.

"I'd advise you to not antagonize me with your thoughtless jokes if you want to prolong your life long enough to say a proper goodbye to your wayward son," Kanon hissed, applying more pressure to his victim's throat.

Dajun didn't attempt to break away, instead he waited restlessly until Kanon released his hold on his neck.  
Mere seconds later, Kanon did and stepped away from his predetermined victim.

"Speak fast. I'm being lenient giving you any time to have a conversation at all. Use it wisely so that you have no regrets," the shiki muttered before walking towards a far wall of the cave and leaning against it.

Once he was gone, Lin stared into his father's eyes again, but this time, he addressed him in Chinese.

"Dad. It's.. good to see you again,"

Dajun nodded solemnly. "Its been awhile, son. I haven't spoken to you since I called about your sister." a pained look flashed across his face, but it was gone in an instant. "Its good to see you in person, though you're not looking very well."

A harsh laugh escaped Lin's mouth. "I'm not looking well? I was in a damned car crash with-" Lin paused as Madoka stroked her hand across his back in an effort to soothe him. "Madoka." He finished.

Dajun eyed the woman wrapped around Lin's waist for a moment. "This is that Madoka? The one you began a relationship with not long after you left for England?" a strange look passed his face as Lin raised a questioning eyebrow- he had never told his father about his involvement with Madoka. "Your mother told me about her. She was rather upset when you stopped seeing each other." the abashed father defended himself, looking anywhere but Lin's face.

Lin sighed irritably. Of course his mother had been unable to keep any sort of secrets regarding his romantic escapades. He wouldn't be surprised if she told all of the people she met when she traveled to the local sauna.

Ignoring how the thought made him feel, Lin nodded. "In that case, yes. This is the very same Madoka. We very recently.. reconciled our relationship."

Dajun smiled genuinely for the first time since seeing his middle son. "Ah, that's good. Make sure you tell your mother that. It'll bring her joy- she's been lacking in that department lately." the smile turned sad as his expression became far away. Lin coughed, and Dajun was brought back to the present. "I apologize for spacing out. By the way, I had heard that you'd been in an accident. I simply meant by my earlier comment that you don't appear to be recovering yet,"

Lin stared at the ground. "Stress. Its making it.. difficult for me to properly recuperate,"

"Koujo, there's something you're avoiding telling me. I'm not blind, I can see when I'm not getting the complete picture," Dajun cut in coarsely.

Lin rolled his eyes. "Yes, well I'm not completely blind. But I can usually tell when I'm not 'seeing' the full picture. You know, because I can only see using one of my eyes?" he knew full and well that he was only making the half hearted attempt at a joke to stall before telling his dad the truth. He should have known that his father could see that there was something being kept for him. He had after all passed his hawk-like vision onto his eldest son, Draidyan.

As expected, Dajun was not amused by his son's attempt at humor. "You've been blind in your right eye since you were born, son. I don't think about it anymore- its something that we couldn't change, so it simply is. Now tell me the truth- what are you hiding from me?"

"Dad, Draidyan, Lukida, and Nazuke were all involved in separate accidents from mine. Draidyan and Lukida should recover with time, but Nazuke," Lin paused as Madoka held him as tightly as she could upon hearing Nazuke's name mentioned. "Nazuke is dying, dad. His internal organs were brutally damaged. He'll need an organ transplant if he's going to survive,"

Dajun closed his eyes eyes as they began welling with tears. "I see. I understand why you were... hesitant to outright tell me. That's a difficult thing to be made aware of.. especially when you hear that your youngest son is near death,"

Dajun didn't think. He simply stepped towards Lin as Madoka slipped behind the Onmyouji. The distraught father wrapped his arm around Lin's shoulder and held him tightly.

Lin stiffened slightly in his father's embrace, but didn't push him away. Instead he wrapped one of his arms around Dajun's torso. The two men stood like that for several seconds, unwilling to separate until a crackling sound could be heard echoing from the cave. Lin froze against his father as he listened intently for the source of the sound. He was unable to locate it, however he heard his father's sharp cry of pain a second later.

Dajun leaned completely into his son as agony shot through his leg. He couldn't put it down and certainly couldn't put any pressure on it.

"Dad!" Lin yelled in shock as his father began sliding towards the floor. Lin couldn't stop his descent so he tried his best to coax his father to the floor of the cave as gently as possible. He instantly fell to his knees beside the injured man. His gaze traveled towards his father's legs. There was no question of what had happened.

The wound on his father's left leg was obviously from electricity. The previously beige pants had been singed to a dark black color, and the skin matched. Lin looked up to see Kanon standing a few feet away, a menacing look on his face.

"I told you your time was limited, did I not? That was my warning shot so to speak. The next one will be fatal,"

Lin cringed as he clasped his father's hand in his own. Dajun had his eyes closed and teeth gritted against the pain shooting up and down his injured leg.

"Son. Just accept it- I'm not getting out of here alive. Whatever that creature is, it obviously has powers beyond the reach of what science can explain. I was wrong to doubt that you and your siblings had supernatural powers. I was too hellbent on believing in my dense superstition that there is a reason for everything. I was a fool, Koujo. I know that I'm the reason that we've been... awkward towards each other for quite a long time. I was so wrong, forgive me." tears were sliding unfettered down Dajun's face. He made no effort to wipe them away.

Lin, shocked and saddened, lowered his head. "I forgive you dad. I do. The only thing that I ever wanted from you was to hear you say that you believed us."

Dajun relaxed against the ground, content with being forgiven, though one thing still plagued his mind. "I wish I could see your sister one last time. Alive and well but-" he was cut off by a shrill cry. Lin recognized the sound immediately and felt his heart stop.

"Koujo! Daddy!" Lifen Lin yelled as she charged out of another pathway in the cave.

Lin felt a force knock into him from the front before he saw the source. Relief and terror filled him when his sister's arms closed around his neck in a tight hug. He almost didn't believe that she was real. If he hadn't been able to feel her against him, he would have been fine believing that she was just a convincing illusion.

"Lifen." He muttered as he wrapped his arms around his baby sister. "You're okay." he added, barely able to speak above a shocked whisper. Lin brushed her long black hair out of her face as she peered up at him with her deep blue eyes. Her face was tear streaked and dirty, but she was still beautiful, and most definitely his sister.

"I'm fine, Ko. I'm sorry that all of this has been happening. I've tried to get Kanon to stop, but he won't, or can't listen to me. I've tried to protect you. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." The nineteen year old girl was in tears as she laid her hand on her brother's shoulder. Lin held her tightly and kissed her forehead gently.

"Its alright, Life. Everything's going to fine. You're going to be okay, and so is everyone else. Just stay strong for me, promise?" Lin requested , beginning to rock back in forth with his sister halfway in his lap.

Lifen nodded against Lin's shoulder. A moment later, Dajun moaned as the pain in his leg began getting worse. Lifen shot out of Lin's lap and to her father's side. She sat on her knees, hovering over the dad who had always judged her, but she had never stopped loving.

"Dad! What did he do to you?" the distressed teenager screamed, as she laid her head on her father's chest, which was rising and falling slowly with each shallow breath he took. Dajun didn't answer, instead he raised his hand up and placed it on the back of his only daughter's head.

Lifen's tears cut through the dirt streaked across her father's shirt. She hadn't even realized she had began crying again. She didn't care- the only things she cared about right now were her father and brother.

After a moment of silence, Dajun's raspy voice addressed his two children.

"Koujo, come here." He began, raising the hand that was not touching Lifen and held it out to his son. Lin took it and grasped it firmly, his jaw clenched against emotions he refused to let show through. Once he had his son's hand, Dajun took a deep, pained breath and spoke again. "He's going to kill me. You two need to be prepared for that. Lin, you need to stay close to your brothers once they've recovered- I have a feeling that you're going to need their support through what you're having to deal with. Don't try to handle it on your own. That's a trait you got from me.. thinking you're the big man and shouldering the entire burden of a situation by yourself. Also, don't keep your emotions locked so tightly inside of you. That's something else you got from me.. you don't express how you're feeling. It gets locked inside of you and you'll eventually blow up. Its better to let it out and admit that you feel something than let it make you go into some sort of rage. Even now, I can see you fighting something.. grief probably. Don't fight it- you'll feel better if you let it out."

Lin lowered his gaze and shook his head. "No-" he swallowed past the thickness forming in his throat. "I'm completely fine." He was lying through his teeth, he knew. But he couldn't let his dad know how much this was hurting him. He didn't want his dad to regret their tedious relationship anymore than he already was.

Dajun smiled knowingly even though he knew that Lin wasn't looking. "You'll let it out eventually, son. Whether its to your lovely Madoka or one of your brothers. I trust that they'll watch over you, and keep you from falling apart. You can watch over them as well, while still taking care of yourself. Remember that." he paused as he heard footsteps steadily approaching from behind him. "Tell your mother and brothers that I love them.. and I'm sorry for how I've been acting...for far too long. Also.. if there is anything left of my body, I'd... like you to allow doctors to use whatever healthy parts of it there are left to see if saving Nazuke is at all possible. There is no sense in him dying because they couldn't find a suitable transplant. And one final thing... I love you both- despite everything, I'm honored to have had you as my children."

As soon as he uttered the last line, the now all to familiar crackling noise could be heard, echoing in the cave louder than it had before. Lin recognized it instantly and grabbed him sister, throwing them both backwards just in time before a bolt of perfectly aimed lightning shot into their father's chest, directly where Lifen's head had just been.

Dajun Lin gasped as the bolt hit him straight in the chest, stopping his heart. His body shuddered as his life was ended in a single instant.

Lin sat up as soon as he heard the gasp, his sister cradled in his arms. Noise roared in his ears, but he couldn't make out what it was. He could only focus on his father's corpse. His corpse.. his corpse, as in he was just a shell of himself. He was no longer.. living. He was.. dead.

"No. No. NO!" Lin roared as he fought to stand up while holding his sister. Lifen, realizing that he most likely wanted to get up and attack Kanon, pushed all of her weight into her brother.

"Koujo! You can't beat him.. you've got to let it go." Tears were flowing down her face like currents, but her expression was powerful. She looked so much like her father that Lin closed his eyes.

Lifen hugged Lin tightly as tears began leaking from his closed eyes. It was the first time that she had seen him cry in years.. in fact, she didn't remember the last time that she had seen him cry. She realized that he was finally breaking down. He had reached his limit and was finally letting his emotions shine through.

He had been close to tears before their father had.. died. Lifen had been able to hear it in his voice, but he had fought them down until the last moment. But now- knowing that their dad was really gone, it broke him.

Lifen held him as he laid his head on top of hers. His shoulders were shaking- it was barely perceptible, but she could feel it. He was fighting to regain control of his emotions.

"I find myself.. becoming rather tired of this show of emotions. I think that its very well time for Lifen and I to depart from this wretched place. Lin, I would of course escort you out, but I'm not feeling particularly generous today." a low, cold voice said suddenly. It was Kanon- he was standing a little ways away from Lin and Lifen. He was staring at the far wall, looking at nothing in particular.

He slowly met Lin's dark gaze after a moment. Lin noticed brightness in the shiki's ice blue eyes. Kanon looked away quickly, a fact that was not lost on Lin.

Could shiki's cry? Better yet, why of all things, **was **Kanon crying? Lin didn't understand, but got the distinct impression that he was missing something crucial- something that he had been wrong in overlooking.

The feeling stumped him. What was his missing about his former shiki? Realizaation hit him like a tidal wave; he realized he knew next to nothing about Kanon. His stated intentions were not hard to understand, but his true motive was still a mystery to Lin.

Suddenly Kanon let out an exasperated sigh. "Koujo. Stop- I can practically hear the gears turning in your head. You're trying to draw connections, fill in the blanks and connect the dots. But whatever conclusions you come to at this moment in time will be wrong. You can't..or refuse to see the truth. As soon as you open your eyes, you'll see everything that seems to be hidden from you. Ther- there's no point in trying to understand me right now."

"You're too damn cryptic. Nothing you say is ever completely straightforward. There is always some hidden meaning. Can you for once directly tell me what the hell you're talking about?" Lin said, his voice a low hiss.

Kanon snorted. "Are you asking me to be reasonable and cut you some slack? Be lenient with you and spell out what I want- what I I hope to gain from this endeavor?" His face became a stoic mask. "No. You won't receive any such mercy from me. You have to play my game to solve the riddle. If you refuse, everyone you love will steadily begin to... vanish."

The unspoken threat was the last straw. Lin moved away from Lifen and shot towards Kanon, throwing his weight into the shiki, who was surprisingly, caught off guard. The two crashed onto the ground in a pile of limbs.

Kanon landed on his back, but quickly rolled over so that Lin was on the ground under him. Rage flashed across the shiki's face as the flame in his hand was extinguished. He stared at his attacker coldly.

"I have but one thing to ask you; what in the hell do you think you're doing?!" Kanon spat through clenched teeth. He was more annoyed than hurt- he had already had enough of his game for today.

Lin said nothing. However he quickly raised his hand and jabbed it into the side of Kanon's neck.

The demon was momentarily stunned. Lin used that to his advantage, pushing him backwards and sliding away from his reach.

By the time the kyusho-jitsu practitioner had gotten to his feet, Kanon was also standing, absently rubbing the place where Lin had attacked him.

Lin clenched his jaw and sighed in frustration. The attack he had used would have knocked almost anyone out for five hours straight. Though it seemed like that only applied to humans. Demons were evidently an entirely different case.

A sadistic glint appeared in Kanon's eyes.  
"Tsk tsk...you truly felt like you could keep me down with something like that? I'm not human Koujo. Your martial arts training has next to no effect on me." he paused and offered Lin a slight smile, his pearly white fangs gleaming in the near darkness of the cave. "However..."

And with that, Kanon ran behind Lin quicker than the Omnyodo's eyes could follow. He grabbed his target around the waist to prevent him from dodging out of reach. Lin tried to squirm away, but found himself unable to move.

Kanon leaned over Lin's shoulder until he was level with his ear.

"You can't harm me with your 'kyusho-jitsu' training because I'm not human.." Kanon said, chuckling softly. "But you **are **human. If I chose to pull the same stunt you did, I am more than capable enough to do so. Only..when I do it, it will produce the desired effects." Without hesitation, Kanon jabbed his hand into the pressure point on the side of Lin's neck.

Lin was unconscious instantly. His eyes rolled back into his head as Lifen and Madoka, clinging to each other for comfort, screamed.

Kanon, not attempting to hold up the incapacitated Onmyouji's weight, allowed Lin to fall to the cave floor.

With his hands free of the burden, Kanon stepped over Lin and approached Lifen and Madoka. Lifen buried her face in the older woman's shoulder, terror causing her to shake violently.

Madoka held her and gazed cooly at Kanon.

"You're not taking her back with you." She stated firmly.

Kanon rolled his eyes.

"I don't desire to take her back. A few minutes ago, I would have. But now I realize that I have entirely no reason to. I've already dealt a large blow to Koujo by murdering his father.. what would taking Lifen back really do other than give me more trouble to deal with?" he took a step forward, reaching towards Madoka. He grabbed her chin and lifted it up, forcing her to meet his penetrating gaze. "But you my dear, you are a different story. If I took you.. well, can't you just imagine Koujo's reaction?"

Madoka jerked her face away.

"You're a bastard." she stated bluntly.

Kanon laughed- the sound echoed throughout the cave, amplifying the menacing sound.

"Though you obviously think that your childish insults will be enough to empower you, you'll never be able to defeat me." Kanon narrowed his eyes, though did not cease laughing. "Don't let your guard down, Madoka. I will come back for you, and when I do, I can't guarantee your survival."

Without another word, Kanon walked towards the wall of the cave and made his body immaterial. He proceeded to walk through the wall without looking back. He left Madoka and Lifen to handle the mess that he had left behind in his wake.

They had a lot of cleaning to do.


	10. Chapter 10: Dreams in the Snow

**A/N There is a reason why this chapter is considerably shorter than the rest of my chapters. It ended up leading into something unexpected - please read notice below. **

**NOTICE: ****The next "chapter" is a smut scene that will more than likely receive an M rating and will be published separately****. You are ****not required**** to read the chapter if smut is not your thing, and this chapter is not necessarily needed to understand events that will unfold sometime in the future of the fic. ****Feel free to proceed to the chapter published as Chapter 11: Burying Regrets (or wait for it to be published in the case that I haven't gotten around to publishing it yet.))**

Winter reigned in Hong Kong China. A thick layer of snow blanketed the terrain, silhouetting it in a veil of white. Two young boys walked through the area, one with stark black hair that contrasted against the whiteness coating the ground, and the other with gray-white hair that matched seamlessly with the frozen environment. Both were dressed for the weather and laughing about some long since forgotten joke.

Neither were aware of the misfortune that would plague them in a few minutes' time. A tragedy that would claim the life of one of them, leaving the other to mourn the loss of his closest friend alone.

At 8:30 p.m, the boys separated. Both had curfew that they had to meet. The black haired boy was halfway home when he heard a scream ring out in the night. It was the white haired boy- there was absolutely no doubt in his mind.

He took off running towards the source of the sound, adrenaline powering his movements. He ran for what seemed like hours, but in reality must have been only a few minutes.

His friends house could be seen in the distance. Screams could no longer be heard. Rather, everything had become eerily silent, as if the world had suddenly went to sleep..

Closing the final distance between the himself and the house, the dark haired boy ran full speed to the small hut. He ended up on the far side of the, away from the front porch. Straining his ears, he listened intently for any noise aside from his own heart, which was pounding insistently in his ears.

His surroundings remained quiet. Beginning to think that he was imaging it, the wary and cold boy turned around slowly and began walking towards the direction of his own home. He was now incredibly late for curfew, and knew that his mother would have his head if he couldn't come up with a viable excuse for his prolonged absence.

He got no more than a foot away before he heard a pained sounding voice.

"Dad! Wha- what are you doing?" it was the white haired boy again. He sounded frantic. A raspy current of Chinese followed after, but Lin could not hear what was being said.

The black haired boy turned around slowly, and steadily began making his way to the front porch. He was within a few inches of it when two figures came into view. A taller, bulkier figure, and an figure of average height and thin stature stood a slight distance apart.

It was the other boy and his father. Taking a few steps forward, the onlooking boy stared at his friend worriedly. He didn't see the gun clutched in the father's hand until it was raised up.

Eyes wide and hands shaking, the older boy ran forward, uttering only one word.

"No!"

A loud bang ricocheted off the walls of the house. A body collapsed onto the snowy white ground with a heavy thud. Blood seeped in a steady flow from a wound in the white haired boys stomach, staining the pale white ground a sickening red. His father dropped the gun just as the dark haired boy bolted towards his fallen friend, tears already streaming from his gray eyes.

"Shun!" he screamed, dropping down onto his knees in the blood streaked snow. He leaned over his best friend, then steadily began applying pressure to the gun shot wound. It was obvious that his efforts would be in vain- with his hands having been pressed to the injury for only a mere minute, they were already coated with fresh blood.

Even knowing that it was fruitless to keep trying, he continued pressing his hands further into the wound, desperately trying to staunch the flow of his friend's life essence.

The white haired boy- Shun, flinched in pain as his friend attempted to prevent him from bleeding out.

"Koujo.. stop it. You're..making it hurt..more than it already does." he took a deep breath, clenching his teeth together to stifle the cry of pain that rose up in his throat. "You can't save me- you've got to let go. It'll only make it harder to accept if you don't stop hoping that I'll live." he grabbed Koujo's blood stained wrist, pulling the hand attached to it away from his stomach.

He clasped his friend's hand tightly as Koujo lowered his head, refusing to look him in the eyes. A sympathetic look crossed Shun's face as his eyes began closing against his will. His body felt heavy, but he wasn't ready to sleep yet. There were still things he needed to say.

"Koujo.. its been an amazing experience being your friend... you've become more like a brother to me than I ever anticipated. I don't know where I'd be if we hadn't met. I'm glad that-"

"Stop it!" Koujo interjected, cutting Shun off mid sentence. "Don't.. don't tell me that you're glad that we met. You're dying because you were my friend. This is my fault." he added, furiously wiping away the tears that would not stop forming in his eyes with his free hand.

Shun weakly raised an eyebrow at his comment.

"How.. exactly was this your fault? You were heading home like you were supposed to be- you had no idea that this was going to happen."

"I made you late for your curfew.. that's why your dad was angry, wasn't it? I should have walked you home- it was my fault that you got a late starting on the walk home. You told me that we needed to start heading home, but I told you we'd have time to make it before we were late. I was wrong and now you're paying the price for it." Koujo answered, his words sounding strangled- like invisible hands were closing around his throat and constricting his airway.

That wasn't it at all though- it was the tears that he was trying to fight back, the urge to cry that he was trying to suppress was impairing his ability to speak clearly. Shun smiled weakly at his close friend.

"Koujo... don't cry- its going to be alright." the words came out slurred- he was falling asleep again and was finding himself less able to fight the urge to just close his eyes.

Koujo tensed in anger. "How are you so calm right now?" he demanded.

The white haired boy shook his weakly. "I'm not afraid of dying- I don't know anyone who wants to die, but its something that's going to happen to all of us. So why should I be scared because its my turn?" he gripped his friends hand little bit tighter. "you shouldn't be afraid either, Kou. We'll see each other again someday, right?"

Koujo didn't answer. Instead he turned his head around and stared at Shun's father, who had not moved from the spot. He seemed to be frozen in a state of supreme shock.

"What are you still standing there for?! Go call for **HELP**!" the black haired boy screamed as loudly as loudly as he possibly could. The stunned man blanched and ran up the porch steps and into the house.

Koujo turned back towards his dying friend, whose breathing had become labored. Shun met his gaze. It pained Koujo to see that all traces of mirth and joy were gone from his eyes. He was completely and for lack of a better term, deadly serious.

"I want you to promise me one thing." he stated, staring at Koujo with his piercing blue gaze. Koujo stared back and nodded.

"Anything I can do." he muttered.

Shun relaxed a little bit. "I want you to promise not to forget me for starters. No matter how much it hurts you, don't pretend that I didn't exist. Think about the good times, but don't look back on them and regret the time we didn't get to spend together. Be happy with the memories we made, and remember them fondly. It simply wouldn't do our friendship justice if you remained eternally sad when you rarely felt that way when we were together, would it? I ... I guess what I'm asking is just promise me that you'll be alright without me."

Koujo thought about it for a moment. Would he be okay without his best friend? The person outside of his real family that he considered family. Though the true answer he realized was most likely no, he had to do everything he could to give Shun peace of mind before he.. died.

"I promise that I'll be okay." he said, though the words sounded weak and noncommittal. Shun didn't answer. Koujo slowly raised his gaze to his friend's face. He noticed that his eyes were closed and.. his chest had stopped rising and falling. He laid completely still.

Koujo felt like he was falling. "Shun! Wake **UP**!" he screamed and began shaking his friend, desperately trying to wake him up. It was no use. His friend had taken his last breath.

"**NO**!"

Koujo Lin bolted upright suddenly, the force of the motion causing the bed he had been lying on to shake. Sweat leaked down from his forehead into his eyes, though he made no effort to wipe it away.

He'd had **that **dream again. It was a dream caused by a memory that still pained him, even after so many years. He typically tried to avoid thinking about the white haired boy - Shun, more often than his melancholy moods forced him to.

Shun and Lin had known each other almost since birth - their mothers had been close friends for many years and had raised their sons around each other. The two boys had been nearly inseparable since they had started school.

They had offset each other perfectly in both appearance and personality. Shun had been the bright daylight to Lin's dark night with his white-gray hair and positive and outgoing way of conducting himself.

They had been a pair - two boys as close to being brothers as they could be without sharing blood. Shun had been Lin's closest friend and confidant.

Then that fateful day, the boys who were aged about thirteen and fourteen at the time, were walking through the snow coating their district of Hong Kong.

Lin, enjoying his friend's company as they talked about whatever it was that teenage boys talked about, had asked Shun to wait a little bit longer before heading on his way home.

Shun had to walk down a small trail from the snowy hill they stood on to reach his house. It was already nearing his curfew and he had a bit of a walk to get home. Even so, he had relented and stayed with Lin for awhile longer.

When they had finally parted, he had arrived home about ten minutes later than he was supposed to have.

His dad had been waiting on the porch, a bottle of some sort of alcohol in his hand. His face was already colored the ruddy red hue of drunkenness.

There was a small pistol clutched in the hand not holding the bottle. He had been loading and unloading it since he had realized that his ungrateful bastard of a son was late. He'd **warned** the boy that he was stepping through shallow waters with breaking curfew so often.

Even with the warning, Shun had been late.. yet again. He had wanted to scare Shun by aiming the gun at him and pulling the trigger. The damn thing was supposed to have been **unloaded. **But it hadn't been - in his drunken state, he'd forgotten about the last step he'd taken in his cycle of loading and unloading the gun. He'd shot his son.

Lin only knew all the details because when Shun's dad had been arrested, he had told the cops everything in hopes that being completely honest would earn him a lesser sentence. It hadn't. The cop who had taken him in had promised to keep Lin in the loop. He'd informed him that the murderer of his friend would be serving the maximum sentence.

That hadn't comforted Lin - he hadn't been in the market for revenge, he'd just wanted his friend back.

He still did. The absence of Shun had become a wound in his heart that though scarred over, would never truly heal.

He hadn't thought about the actual event I ages, although a ghostly image of Shun's face still haunted him when he allowed his mind to wander unchecked.

He couldn't control what he saw in dreams. He'd literally been forced to relive the muder of his best friend. His heart was still beating at an accelerated rate, though his breathing had started to regulate. It was just in time too as he could hear footstep outside the room.

A moment later the door opened and light streamed into the room, illuminating what Lin realized in confusion, was his bedroom at SPR.

A woman with long red hair stood in the doorway. She smiled kindly when she realized that Lin was awake.

"Hello, my name is Diara Matsuzaki. I believe you're acquainted with my daughter Ayako. She asked me to stop by to watch over you after Mr. Shibuya and another man dragged you in unconscious."

Lin's eyebrow quirked in confusion.

"Why was I unconscious?" he asked, straining to remember the events prior to him waking up. The only thing that came to mind was Shun.

Diara frowned.

"I have no clue what happened, dear. I came after they brought you in and simply checked your vitals and cleaned your existing wounds. If anything, you should get Mr. Shibuya to tell you what he knows." She approached Lin then, stopping beside his bed. "While I'm here, is there anything in particular you need me to get you?"

"No thank you, I'm quite alright." Lin replied.

Diara smiled at her temporary patient.

"I'll send Mr. Shibuya in to see you ." Diara left the room a moment later, leaving Lin alone with his thoughts. What exactly had happened?

He had the distinct feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer.

Luckily it wasn't long before Naru walked in. The researcher stared at Lin carefully before taking a deep breath.

"What do you remember, Lin?" He questioned, as always not wasting any time.

Lin shook his head. "I don't remember anything. Will just go ahead and tell me what happened?"

Naru said nothing, he simply poked his head out into the hallway and muttered a simple declaration to someone Lin could not see. "You can come in now."

A few seconds later, a beautiful and familiar face appeared in Lin's field of vision. "Lifen?" he asked uncertainly as the nineteen year old ran to him, climbed onto the bed and threw her arms around her brother.

Lin held her tightly as his memories began to return - his dad dad's death, and his heartfelt reply for Lin to make sure that his organs were used to save Nazuke.

Questions came to mind, and Lin needed honest answers to them.

"I assume the police were called to the scene of.. the accident. How did they respond to the circumstances of dad's death? Better yet, how did they respond to seeing you there? You've been filed as an official missing person, Life."

Lifen closed her eyes sadly and rested her head on Lin's shoulder. "Mhm. They don't know what to make of how dad died, but they didn't see any possible way that we could have caused his death either. They labeled it as a freak accident. As for me being there, they took my statement- I was kidnapped while at my home in China and taken to Japan by a man who then left me in the cave I was found in and fled." She paused then glanced over at Naru who was standing leaned up against the wall, listening intently to the conversation. "Kazuya made them stop questioning me about how you and Madoka ended up there- I didn't know. They believed that I was just covering for Kanon."

Lin met his charge's gaze and exchanged a silent 'thank you' with him through his expression. They had known each long enough where words were rarely, ever truly necessary.

Naru simply nodded in response. "I'll leave you two alone to talk, though I believe that you'll want to go to the hospital and see your family, Lifen. The last I heard Draidyan and Lukida have awoken, though Nazuke is still in a medically induced coma- the pain that his wounds would cause is far too great for him to be conscious until after the surgery. If he's feeling up to it, Lin can take you. If not, I'll think of something."

Naru walked out of the room, leaving the siblings alone for the first time since the death of their father. Lifen lifted her head from Lin's shoulder and looked him in the eyes, her expression scrutinizing.

"Are you alright?" she asked gently.

Lin nodded, though he was lying, he didn't want to worry Lifen. He could see it in her eyes that she was fighting tears still- he assumed that she'd been crying before coming to see him, and was simply wearing a facade of calm for his sake. He could't bear to add to her sadness. Losing their father before she'd really gotten a chance to make amends with him had done enough of that for a lifetime.

Lifen, not easily fooled, swatted Lin across the head with her hand for attempting to lie to her. The Onmyouji winced and rubbed his head.

"What the hell was that for?" he asked, pushing Lifen out of his lap and into the floor beside the bed. She landed with a low thump on the ground.

Lifen made no effort to get up. She sat in the floor, staring at Lin intently. Her gaze made Lin uncomfortable. She was his sister- she could see the hidden side of him clearly, no matter how hard he tried to hide it.

"Can we talk about this later?" he asked warily. He wanted to get up out of bed and walk around to get his mind off of things. He couldn't deal with being emotionally interrogated right now.

Lifen sighed deeply, but nodded as she got up off of the floor. "I'll leave it alone for now, but promise me one thing - we'll talk about this later, okay?"

Lin held out his pink towards his sister, who grasped it firmly with her own. It had been the way that they had made promises since Lifen was a child.

Having Lin's unspoken word, Lifen left the room to go and get dressed, leaving Lin alone to his own devices. Lin couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten to take a proper shower- being in the hospital hadn't allowed much freedom for such luxuries.

Yes.. Lin felt that the steaming water would do him some good.


	11. Chapter 11: Burying Regrets

**A/N This chapter was harder to go back and edit than I thought it would be, but its finished, and I hope you enjoy it. Warning: Sad**

A calm breeze blew through the air of Hong Kong as a black SUV moved down a dirt road. Draidyan Lin sat in the driver's side, carefully maneuvering the vehicle down the path. Lukida sat in the passenger side, lightly drumming his fingers against the dash in tune to the song that was playing on the radio.

In the backseat, Lifen, Madoka and Lin sat in tight quarters. The Onmyouji had his head propped up against the window. His eyes were closed and his breathing was shallow - he'd fallen asleep not long after they had left the airport in the car that Drai had rented.

This was the first restful sleep that Lin had gotten since the ordeal with Kanon had started. Truth be told, he needed the extra sleep - he would have a stressful experience the next day. They were having his Dajun's funeral.

It had been three weeks since he had been murdered. His organs had been removed and donated to Nazuke a week before. The surgery had gone well - Nazuke was expected to make a full recovery, though he hadn't been healthy enough to make the journey home for the funeral.

After a few moments of driving in silence, Draidyan pulled the car into a familiar driveway. They'd arrived home after a several hour long trip. Draidyan met Madoka's gaze in the rearview mirror. "This is home. Welcome to your first stay in China - I wish I could say that in more pleasant circumstances, but you do your best with the cards that life deals you." he said, offering a slight smile.

Madoka smiled back before turning towards Lin so that she could wake him up. To her surprise, his eyes were already open. He was staring at the seat in front of him with a seemingly confused expression on his face.

Madoka gently laid her hand on his shoulder - he didn't look at her or even move a muscle. Madoka worriedly looked at the two oldest Lin brothers in the front seat. Lukida saw her expression and chuckled. "He's fine, just struggling to wake up completely. He rarely sleeps restfully - he was diagnosed with chronic insomnia when he was less than ten. So every time Koujo sleeps considerably well, he has a difficult time waking up and staying awake. He's fighting sleep right now when his body actually needs more time to recuperate. He should be fine in a moment and if not, Drai and I will haul him to bed." Lukida reached his arm into the back seat and hit his younger brother on the leg.

Lin grabbed his wrist and twisted it in irritation. "I'm. Awake." He enunciated slowly for effect before releasing Lukida's arm. Lifen let out a frustrated sigh.

"We haven't been home for five minutes and you two are already fighting? Seriously, can't you wait a few hours at least?" She demanded, glaring at both of the offending brothers in turn. Neither of them said a word, both shocked at their sister's sudden outburst. "You're grown men - don't you think it's a good time to act like it?"

Draidyan met her gaze in the mirror, his expression grim. "Princess, they weren't fighting, or really even arguing. You know how we are - if they were truly fighting, one of them would be on the ground bleeding."

Lifen wasn't amused in the least by Draidyan's honest reply. "I don't care if they were seriously fighting. It's not a good time to get mad at each other. We're going to be burying dad tomorrow - Mom will need our support." Tears were glistening in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall; she'd cried enough already.

Realizing that they'd unintentionally upset Lifen badly enough where she could cry, Lukida and Lin locked gazes. Lin held his hand out to Lukida who grabbed it and squeezed tightly.

"I'm sorry." both said in unison. Lifen nodded at them in approval as she wiped away the last of her unspilled tears.

"Thank you." she said, her voice wavering with her emotions.

Draidyan coughed to get everyone's attention. "I believe that we should go inside - mother is waiting for us and I think that she'll want us settled in before dinner."with that he opened his door and stepped out.

Everyone else followed his lead as they walked into the house.

...

Lin stood awkwardly in the living room of the house that he'd lived in during his childhood. It felt foreign to him now - as if his time away had erased him entirely from the house's history. That wasn't the case - he was sure of that.

In reality his feeling of eerie uneasiness was being caused by the haunting ghost of a memory that still plagued him. He remembered the dream that had taken place in this house weeks before, in which he had seen his entire family, aside from Lifen, dead on the kitchen table. He kept expecting to start smelling the nauseating scent of blood and decay. No matter how hard he tried, he was unable to shake off the feeling that all was not well. What if his dream had been some sort of sick premonition?

"Koujo? Are you alright dear?" Lin blinked and looked down. He was met with a pair of concerned sky blue eyes. His mother stood in front of him, staring up at him warily.

Lin didn't think. He just wrapped his arms around the little woman and hugged her tightly. This was the first time that  
he'd seen his mom in over a year - he had missed her.

Lotus stood on her tippy toes so that she could kiss him on the cheek affectionately.

Lin offered her a half smile.

"It's good to see you, mom."

Lotus nodded and stepped away from from her middle son.

"It's wonderful to have you home, hun. Now go wash up and get ready for dinner."

Lin smirked. It was just like his mom to have food ready.

...

Hours after everyone had finished dinner, Lotus had stated that they should all get ready for bed - they had to arrive at the funeral home earlier than the rest of the family to ensure that everything was in order.

It would be a grueling task, but it was necessary. A family friend would be arriving in the morning as well so that she could ride to the funeral with them - she would be there by seven a.m, so everyone would need to be awake by time she arrived to greet her.

Lin stood the bedroom he had lived in during his childhood. Nothing had been changed after he'd moved out - his mother hadn't had the heart to move any of the things he'd left behind.

It made him feel nostalgic to be back, though he knew that too much had changed for it to ever truly feel like home to him again. His life had changed permanently. Some of it for the better, and some of it in ways that would affect him for years to come.

Sighing deeply, Lin stepped out of his bedroom and headed towards Nazuke's room - Madoka was staying there in the youngest Lin brother's absence.

He knocked on the door and heard the muffled "Come in." through the door.

He did as he was beckoned and entered the room. Madoka sat atop the blue sheets on the small bed. She looked up when Lin approached the bed and smiled at him sweetly.

"Hey."she said, scooting over so that he could sit beside her. The Omnyouji took his place beside her and smiled.

"I wanted to tell you goodnight - I actually wasn't sure if you'd still be awake. Its been a hectic day."

Madoka nodded, though she suddenly seemed nervous. Lin stared at her in confusion. "Is everything alright, Madoka?"

The pink hair lady jumped, as if she had forgotten that Lin was sitting there. "Um.." she muttered, not looking at her boyfriend.

Lin grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "You know that you can tell me anything, right? Whatever is going on, immediately assume that it applies. With that in mind, tell me what you need to say."

Madoka sighed deeply. "Lin.. my.. cycle.." she began, wincing as soon as the words came out of her mouth. She'd meant to bring it up differently, but the damage had been done.

Lin didn't even blink. Things like this didn't bother him - he, unlike some men, understood that this was a natural thing that went on in a woman's body - he had no reason to be squeamish about something that she couldn't control. He said none of these things to her, he simply raised an eyebrow and prodded her to continue. "What about it?"

Madoka blushed. "Its..late." she said, wringing her hands nervously. "It was supposed to have started about a week ago, but it hasn't."

Lin stiffened slightly. He knew all too well what this could mean for them. But.. how had this happened? He'd been careful - he'd made sure to - how had he failed at that?

"Are you...?" he questioned, not quite sure what he wanted to ask - probably several things including, are you sure, and more prominently, are you _pregnant_?

Madoka grabbed his hand gently. "Just because its late doesn't immediately mean "boom, pregnant" - there could be a number of reasons why I haven't started yet. I just brought it up to you because I felt like you should know that even if this doesn't meant that I'm definitely pregnant, that is a possibility." she paused, and met his gray gaze. "If I **am** pregnant, its yours - you deserved to be made aware."

Lin nodded, though he said nothing. There was a _chance _that he was going to be a father. He didn't know how to respond. Madoka leaned forward and kissed his cheek. "Don't overthink it too much right now - I haven't even taken a test - I'm going to wait a few days before I do that to see if_ it _starts." she touched his arm gently. Lin turned his attention to her and she smiled. "Lin.. if I'm not pregnant, do you** want** kids at some point?"

Lin shifted uncomfortably on the bed. This had been the question that he wanted to avoid. "That is a difficult question to answer, and one that I might not be able to offer a coherent explanation to. Nonetheless, I'll try to tell you my stance on children." he got to his feet in front of the bed and looked down at her. "First of all, my father and I have had a.. strained relationship since I was about eight years old. That was during the time that I first began being able to see the spirits of the dead that had become shiki - but I could only see them out of my "blind" right eye. I grew my hair out so that I had a veil - a barrier if you will so that I didn't have to see them all the time unless I wished to. My father didn't understand any of this. He thought that my childhood was a game that my brothers and I had decided to play with him. He thought that we were trying to take him for a fool - finally make him believe in our abilities and then tell him that it really was all a lie. My relationship with Dajun shaped several parts of my personality. Sometimes, I'm not sure for the better. Example A is being shown today - my reluctance to have children of my own. I don't.. I don't want to be the type of father that my dad was."

Madoka stared at Lin intently. She had not been able to get a single word had she wanted to while Lin had been speaking - it was as if he were trying to tell her everything in one breath. And even then, she felt like he wasn't entirely finished. "I feel like you have more to say - go ahead. I can hold my questions until the end." was the only thing that she told him.

Taking a deep breath, Lin continued. "I apologize for my... unorganized thoughts a moment ago - this is.. harder than I thought that it would be. Recapping what I said - my dad and I had not been close for some time. He was this way with all of his children, from Draidyan all the way down to Lifen. Later in life I had a more difficult time with his comments as my job as an Omnyouji was made possible by my abilities as a spiritualist. It was far from pleasant coming home when I did only to fight with him. Our relationship colored my perception of children."

Madoka looked at Lin sadly. "You think you'll be a bad father because of your relationship with your dad?"

Lin nodded. "As strange as it might sound, I feel like my father has influenced me more than I'd like to admit. It might not be rational, but the truth of the matter is that I don't want my kids to not be able to have a relationship with me because I was too damn stubborn to trust them."

Madoka felt like crying - she had never known that Lin and his father had not been close since Lin's childhood. Even when they had dated the first time, he had never told her **anything **about his father. She'd never thought to ask why - she'd always assumed that he missed him and didn't want to bring him up. But now she realized that it was something entirely different. And now he tells her that whatever it was the really went on between them had influenced Lin so much to the point where he wasn't sure if he ever wanted to be a father himself.

Reigning in her emotions, Madoka smiled at Lin as calmly as she could manage, though she felt like screaming on the inside. "You aren't your father, Lin. I wouldn't worry about being like him - you know what his biggest mistake was, so do you truly think that you'd be foolish enough to replicate it? I don't believe you would."

"Just because I know where my father's faults laid doesn't mean that I'm not afraid that I won't make the same mistakes. Even if I know what to avoid, that doesn't mean that I won't forget. I could easily hear one suspicious thing come out of my child's mouth and not believe them - what if that one lie leads to be never being able to trust them?" Lin replied stubbornly.

Madoka closed her eyes and shook her head, tiring of the conversation. "Look, we can talk about this later - we've got to get up early in the morning. There's nothing to worry about until we're sure in the first place. Go get some sleep."

...

Six hours after his conversation with Madoka, Lin stood in his bedroom wearing his suit pants and shirt - the matching black jacket was missing from the ensemble. He knew where his jacket was, though he didn't particularly want to go and retrieve it.

The missing article of clothing was residing in Draidyan's closet. The oldest brother stored all of his younger siblings fancy clothing along with his due to the fact that he had the biggest closet. When he'd sorted out the clothing, he'd apparently forgotten to bring Lin his jacket. Figures.

Sighing deeply, Lin walked out of his room and into the hallway. Draidyan's room was across the hall from his. Lin pushed the door open and stepped inside. Draidyan was standing in front of his bed shirtless, with a suit vest clutched in his hand. He'd been in the middle of changing. Lin noticed the familiar tribal tattoo that decorated the upper part of Drai's back, but below it he saw something that he had never seen before.

There was a marking in his back - it looked like it had been engraved into his flesh. The skin around it was red and raw looking. It was like the mark had been etched into his back as he was being burned. Lin shuddered as he realized that was exactly what must have happened to Drai.

Draidyan turned towards Lin a moment later, silver eyes guarded. "Koujo, is there something you need?"

Lin didn't know what to say. Kanon had done something so **severe** to his brother, but Draidyan hadn't told him? Why had he kept it secret? "The burn on your back. Something has been scarred into it...?"

Drai approached Lin and turned around, giving his brother full view of the injury. Lin stared at it intently for a moment before realizing that the marking was not random - it was in fact one, cryptic word; _Remember_.

Lin's eyes widened as Drai turned around to face him. "Don't ask me what it means. I have no idea - I didn't particularly feel like playing twenty questions as the bastard was burning me." he sighed deeply as he remembered another detail. "We should go see Luki."

...

"Luk, take your shirt off." Draidyan commanded his younger brother as soon as they found him in his room. Lukida stared at him as if he'd lost his mind.

"That's an odd request, Drai - and not one I'd expect to get from you if I'm being completely honest. I was under the impression that you liked females, not males in your own fam-" Lukida would have continued, had Draidyan's expression not been quite so threatening.

"Luki, you know exactly why I'm telling you to take your shirt off, so just do it, alright?"

Lukida shook his head and did as he was asked, carefully peeling off the white undershirt he was wearing to reveal his torso. Lin stared at Lukida from his position beside Drai.

Lukida's stomach was red and inflamed, though in a different way than Drai's back had been. He had obviously be cut with a sharp object - Lin didn't want to know what. There was a message inscribed into this injury as well, which seemed to continue the one that Draidyan bore.

This one simply said two words; "the snow". Lin blinked in confusion as he put the words together in his head to form a sentence "Remember the snow".

Lin immediately thought back to the only memory that he could remember clearly that had taken place during the winter months. The death of his best friend, Shun Song. Realization hit him with the force of a stampeding bull.

He paled instantly and took an involuntary step backwards, his back hitting the wall. He slowly slid to the floor as Draidyan rushed towards him fearfully.

"Koujo, what happened?" he asked, kneeling down in front of Lin.

Lin just shook his head. He didn't want to say what he'd just realized. The connections he made were too much for him to handle. How had he been so blind? Why hadn't he been able to see the invisible lines that connected him to Kanon?

"Koujo, if you don't start talking in the next thirty seconds, I'm going to start hitting you." Draidyan said irritably. His brother's silence was scaring him deeply - he'd never seen Lin shocked so completely.

Lin closed his eyes and laid his head against the wall. "Kanon is Shun." He stated bluntly, all emotion seemingly gone from his voice. He felt drained, both emotionally and physically. He hadn't realized that his best friend was the shiki he had bound until it'd been thrown into his face - irrefutable proof that he'd been ignoring the things that Kanon had been saying.

Draidyan stared a him with wide silver eyes. "Are you **sure**?"

Lin didn't look at him. "Do you remember what season Shun died in?"

Drai's eyebrows furrowed together as he thought back to a memory that had taken place when he had been around sixteen years old. "It was Winter, wasn't it?"

Lin nodded. "It was. And in what season does it typically snow?"

Draidyan didn't answer, he simply stood up and held his hand out to Lin, who took it. He allowed Drai to haul him to his feet.

"I don't think you're wrong, Koujo. In fact, I think that you've hit the nail on the head. However, we don't have time to overthink anything right now - we've got to finish getting ready. We're being forced to attend the aftermath of something that 'Shun' has done - we'll worry about his next move after we're done with **this **mess."

...

"Lukida!" a happy, excited voice squealed. A petite woman with sandy brown hair and chocolate eyes ran through the front door of the Lin household at full speed, straight in the direction of the second oldest Lin brother.

Lukida braced himself for the onslaught as she raced to the living room and quite literally tackle hugged him. She grabbed him directly around his waist near the wound on his stomach due to their staggering difference in height. The twenty eight year old's eyes were as wide as saucers as he fought the instant pain that began pulsating in his abdomen.

The redish brown haired girl noticed how the object of her affection had stiffened up when she'd wrapped her arms around him.

"Luki, what's wrong?" she asked, her bottom lip quivering slightly. Draidyan got off the living room couch where he'd been sitting and approached the woman. He gently pried her arms off of Lukida who held his stomach tightly.

"Kohana sweetie, Lukida was injured no more than three weeks ago - it just so happens that you hugged him directly where he got hurt. That's why he didn't return the gesture."

Kohana gasped in horror as she broke away from Draidyan and rushed towards Lukida again. She wanted to hug him but didn't want to hurt him again.

Sensing her dilemma, Lukida grabbed her by rhe arm, pulling her to his side. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her gently.

"Its not that I wasn't excited to see you, Kohana. I just haven't fully recovered."

Kohana nodded, though there were tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry about your dad, Luki."

"I am too." Lukida muttered as he glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. "Speaking of which, I've got to go and get Koujo and Madoka - its time to head out."

...

Koujo sighed deeply as he stood in front of the solid oak doors of the funeral home. He hadn't really thought about preparing for the death of his parents. He'd known that they were beginning to get old, though neither of them had ever slowed down any in their later years.

Though to his credit, he wasn't here due to the death of his father from old age. No.. he was here because of a much darker cause of death. Dajun had been murdered by the one who had once been Lin's closest friend. The sentence caused a vile taste in Lin's mouth and he swallowed.

He met the eyes of his mother, who had yet to push the door to the funeral home open. He could see it in her gaze that she was stalling. She didn't want to see the body of the man that she had been married to since she was twenty years old, lying in a casket with his skin ice cold to the touch despite him being clothed in his best suit.

Unsure of what to do, Lin reached a hand down towards his mother, placing it on her shoulder.

"Mother, do you need me to open the door?" he asked gently. Lotus shook her head as she finally grabbed the handle of the door.

"No. I.. need to be the one to do this." the door was pushed open and a gust of cold air rushed out, encompassing Lin as he took the first steps into the room where his father's final viewing would take place.

Madoka walked to his side and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly. Lin was glad for her comfort - her hand in his was the only sort of warmth he could feel in this place.

Draidyan walked behind Lin, his hand resting gently on his younger brother's back. Lukida and Kohana stood a few feet back, slowly keeping pace with the others.

The carpet eventually came to an end, and Lin was face to face with a dark casket. He knew what laid in the box - there were no surprises here. Only death, and a penetrating sense of cold. It froze his bones, preventing him from walking any closer.

Lin would have stayed like that permanently had he not felt arms wrap around his shoulders from behind, and heard a deep and familiar voice next to his ear. "I know this isn't easy, but you've got to keep walking if you want to say your goodbyes to dad. If you honestly don't think that you can, step outside and take breather. Dad would understand." Draidyan said calmly, stepping out from behind his brother so he could approach his father's casket.

Lin shook his head, suddenly feeling dizzy. He had thought that he'd come to terms with the death of loved ones after his grandparents, but he realized now that he hadn't. Or maybe it was just worse - experiencing the death of one of your own parents.

Draidyan could hear Lin's suddenly uneven breathing. He turned around and met his gaze. "Koujo, just go outside before you pass out in here - I'd rather not call an ambulance for you when we don't even have thirty minutes before the other guests will arrive."

Lin stared at his mother who had reached the casket. She turned to look at her son and offered him a weak smile. "Honey, go outside for a little bit - its okay if you're not ready. No one's blaming you. Its hard to lose a loved one; you can come back in when the funeral starts and say goodbye."

Lin pulled his hand away from Madoka and turned away from his father's casket. He took a few deep breaths before walking down the row of pews towards the closed door of the building. He pulled it open and stepped outside.

There was a rocking chair sitting on the porch. He took seat in the and rested his head on his hands, all the while trying and failing to regulate his breathing.

As this was happening, a looming figure with dark hair and penetrating blue eyes stood just outside of the man on the porch's line of sight. He'd been watching the entire family since they'd arrived at the funeral home.

Kanon had come to watch the emotional turmoil that his actions had caused the family of his victim. So far he'd been more than satisfied. The widow of the man he'd killed had hesitated for a satisfactory amount of time before she had found the emotional control to push the door open.

And then once everyone had finally gotten inside, Koujo had walked back out after only about five minutes. The Onmyouji had been nearly as pale as his father who was now devoid of life. It was obvious that it had upset him greatly entering the funeral home in the first place, but the thought of seeing his father for the last timed had apparently been too much for him.

He had exited the building and was now sitting on the porch with a dreary expression on his face. Kanon had achieved his goal - cause Lin as much emotional stress as he possibly could in the shortest amount of time.

Kanon now had a decision to make; what the next move in his plan would be. There were two possibilities. On one hand, a plan of action that would most definitely cause Koujo the highest level of pain imaginable. The prospect was almost appealing enough to make Kanon's mouth water. However on the other hand rested a personal vendetta that the shiki had yet to resolve.

The vendetta was one that Kanon has obtained during his human life. It was against the first person who had ever done him wrong – the one who was at the root of all of the rage that he was feeling now.

Yes.. the thought of causing **him** the greatest amount of fear imaginable was like ecstasy to Kanon's mind. He could **finally** make him suffer.

Kanon chuckled darkly as he realized that there had never really been a choice to make – he'd known all along which course of action that he was next going to take.

Kanon's next destination would be to a prison facility located in Hong Kong.

…

…

Guests were beginning to file in one by one into the funeral home where Dajun's final viewing would take place. The immediate family of the deceased were scattered around, mingling with distant relatives and reminiscing about their shared memories of Dajun.

Lin stood just inside the door of the funeral home with his back against the wall. He still felt like he was being suffocated, like the walls were closing in on him and constricting his airways. He knew that it was his panic that was causing the sensation of suffocation, however that did ease his discomfort any.

He stood like that for several seconds before he realized that he was being approached by someone that nearly made his heart stop. It was his father – Dajun, walking towards him, smiling, breathing, and alive. Lin stiffened against the wall, hoping to ward the ghostly apparition away.

It was no use. Dajun continued walking towards Lin with a small, sad smile on his face. As he got closer, Lin slowly realized that something was off - the version of Dajun approaching him was considerably taller than he remembered his father being. And his eyes were distinctly green, not the familiar steel gray that Lin had inherited.

"Fang" Lin muttered as the look alike of his father stood in front of him. Fang Lin grinned at the son of his brother.

"Just Fang now, is it?" he questioned, pulling his nephew towards him for a hug. "I used to be Uncle Fang."

Lin laughed a bit. "You still are, though I didn't think you really cared whether or not I used your title. I was under the impression that you knew your relation to me. Or are you already getting old enough that your mind is starting to fail you?"

Fang looked furious. "I'm not that old you know."

Lin nodded his head agreeably. "Uh huh. And the world isn't round, right?" he hit his uncle on the shoulder lightly. "I know you've still got a good few years left in you, _Uncle _Fang."

Fang nodded, though his demeanor had obviously changed. He had become stoic and serious, which made him resemble his now deceased twin more than Lin felt comfortable with. "How are you doing, Koujo?"

Lin sighed and shook his head. "I can't give you an honest answer. I thought that I'd come to terms with Dad's passing, but when I was faced with approaching his casket and seeing him..-"

"Dead?" Fang offered helpfully, though his tone no longer held any humor.

Lin looked away. "Yeah."

"I know that you and Dajun didn't have the best relationship, but he was still your dad and he loved you all dearly. He loved **you**, Kou." Fang said gently.

Lin clenched his fist. "I realized that. But by the time I had, it was far too late for me to truly let the fact sink in. I was **there **when he died, Fang."

A hand was suddenly resting on the Onmyouji's shoulder - Fang's. "I know you were - your mother told me everything that I wished to hear, which honestly wasn't much. I'd rather not know every detail of my brother's death. My point is, I know that you were with him in his final moments. I'd like to believe that he told you everything that he needed to so that he felt like he could leave this world without regrets. The same goes for you - I hope that you had time to tell your father what you needed to."

As soon as Fang finished speaking, a deep voice rang throughout the funeral home. "If the family and friends of the deceased would all take a seat, we will begin honoring the life of Dajun Lin."

Lin realized that it was his cue to take a seat beside his brothers on the front pews. He did as the funeral director bid him, giving his uncle one last solemn glance as Fang took his seat beside Lotus.

Lin sat in the middle of Lukida and Draidyan as the funeral director began rambling on about his father's life. He didn't want to hear most of it, and he refused to look up at the man speaking for more than a moment, less his eyes wander behind him to glance into the casket that contained Dajun. He would face the obstacle of saying his final goodbyes to his father only when he could no longer avoid it.

Before long, the director had finished his speech, and all of the guests were allowed to view the body of Dajun for the last time. Lin was nudged forward by Lukida who smiled at him. "I'll go up there with you."

Lin nodded as he rolled his shoulders and stuffed his hands inside his suit pockets. Lukida walked beside him as he maneuvered his way through the crowd of people towards his father's casket. This time when he was within range, he didn't avoid looking up.

His gaze slowly traveled upwards until he was met with the now familiar casket. His muscles involuntarily stiffened and he faltered in his step. Lukida glanced at him sympathetically. "Still don't think you can do this?"

Lin shook his head and sighed. "I can handle it."

Lukida simply urged Lin forward with his hand. "If you're sure that you can handle it, the only thing you have left to do is look up. That is, when you've prepared yourself."

Lin stood like that for several seconds until he no longer felt like there was a reason for him to continue avoiding the inevitable. He slowly moved his eyes upwards.

His gaze landed on his father lying in the casket. Lukida grabbed his brother's shoulder as calmly as possible as Lin stared at their father. He tried to open his mouth, but no words came out. It felt like cotton had been stuffed into his mouth. He tried to speak past the dryness, but it was impossible.

Lukida watched him worriedly. "Koujo, you're pale again. Are you doing alright?"

Lin nodded his head without looking at Lukida. "Yes." his brother's voice had seemingly grounded him back to reality. He knew what he needed to say and was finally prepared to say it. It would hurt like hell to vocalize his thoughts, though he knew that he'd never be at peace with his father's death if he didn't say everything he needed, just as Fang had hoped he'd gotten to do before his father had passed.

"Dad. We.. fought more often than we had casual conversation, but you were still my _father_ . I realize why it was hard for you to believe us - our abilities have never been normal. You are.." the onmyouji coughed as he realized that his choice of words were no longer applicable. "were.. a very controlled man. Our powers never conformed to your standards of reality. You couldn't accept that something outside the bounds of what is explainable by Science existed, let alone had affected all of your children. I **know** that, though that has never made it any easier. I grew up treating my older brothers as father figures more than brothers, because I was too afraid to tell you when I had a problem. Because family is important to me - very much so, actually. I could never erase the ties to you that made you my father, and I never desired to. Growing up with our relationship standing on broken glass as it always did was difficult, but you were still my father. And now you're gone, and I could't do anything to stop it. I'm.." Lin cut off suddenly as he realized that he was crying.

Lukida pulled Lin into a hug as the middle brother's emotions finally leaked through the cracks. 


	12. Chapter 12: Whiskey with a Shot of Death

The drink was bitter, even more so than Lin thought it would be. Bourbon whiskey - freshly poured into his glass by Fang. The brother of the recently deceased Dajun Lin had made an unspecified stop on his way to the Lin household after the funeral. He hadn't told Lotus where he'd been going, though his Sister-in-Law had known him long enough so that she did not have to guess where he'd gone.

Fang had stopped at a liquor store that was on the way from the funeral home. He'd spent a large quantity of money purchasing assorted alcoholic beverages for his nephews and himself to enjoy. Whiskeys, Gins, Wines, you name it, he'd thought of it.

As soon as he'd shown his family his offerings, Lin had grabbed the bourbon - whiskey had become his preference after his twenty-first birthday when Draidyan and Lukida had taken him out for his first drink as a legal adult.

The Omnyouji sat on the living room couch, leisurely drinking his fill of the dark beverage. It stung his throat when he swallowed, though after the third sip, he'd almost stopped noticing it - or caring.

Draidyan sat on the window seat, his silver eyes watching everyone as they drank in silence. He was on his third glass of whiskey and showed no signs that he was ready to slow down. His gaze fell on Madoka who sat beside Lin, calmly sipping on a glass of water.

Drai raised a curious eyebrow as he stared at the pink haired lady. Madoka slowly met his gaze and offered him a small smile. Draidyan returned the smile before taking another sip of his whiskey. "Madoka - you're drinking water. It doesn't exactly seem to be the most popular beverage around here at the moment. Do you not drink?"

Madoka shook her head. "Its not that at all. I don't mind drinking actually."

Draidyan stood up from his seat at the window and walked towards the coffee table in center of the room where all of the assorted drinks were situated. He picked up the half empty bottle of whiskey and poured some into a glass.

He thought about holding it out to Madoka but changed his mind quickly - judging by her appearance and the glass of water in her hand, she wasn't a heavy drinker. Whiskey could put her under the table quicker than she was prepared for.

Drai held out the full glass of whiskey to Lin, who had just finished the last sip of the glass that he'd been working on. The Onmyouji took it and drained it within a few gulps. He was still sober - too much so for his liking. He normally refused to let himself get carried away, but tonight, he really wished that he could stop caring.

As he was pouring himself yet another glass of the amber colored substance, Draidyan was skimming through the drinks on the table, searching for something that would be easier for Madoka to drink. He found a strawberry wine cooler and grabbed it, tossing it to Madoka who caught it just before it hit her in the face. She glanced at it warily before shaking her head no. "I can't drink this."

Draidyan raised an eyebrow. "For curiosity's sake, why **can't** you drink it?"

Madoka blushed as she laid the wine cooler back on the table. "I might be pregnant." she replied. Lin who had just taken a sip of his drink, began choking uncontrollably at her announcement. He hadn't forgotten their conversation, however the shock of hearing it out loud and within ear shot of his entire family was nearly enough to give him a heart attack.

Lukida handed Lin a glass of water. He drank it quickly in an attempt to quiet the harsh coughing. It worked, though one glance at the expressions of everyone in the room was enough to make him feel like choking again.

Fang in particular looked incredibly shocked. He stared at his nephew for a moment before shaking his head and taking a sip of whatever he'd chosen to drink. "Boy, your mom is going to kill you."

Just as he said that, Lotus stepped into the room with Lifen trailing behind her. The mother of five stared at her son with wide blue eyes. "Koujo. Did you ask this woman to come into your bed before asking her to marry you?"

Lin stared at the glass in his hand and made a decision. If he was going to answer the question that his mother had so crudely asked him, he was going to be one step closer to being blissfully unaware beforehand. He tipped his head back and drained the glass that he'd been working on. He then moved off the couch and grabbed a full bottle of whiskey.

Before taking a sip he met his mother's disapproving gaze. "Yes mother, I did in fact have _sex_ with her, and as you're all too aware, we're not married. I could try to give you excuses for my actions, but I won't as I don't think I need to explain my decisions to you. I may be your son, but I'm no longer a child who you can chastise for doing what you perceive to be against your moral standings. I'm a grown man - please understand that." He now lifted the glass bottle up to his mouth and took a long gulp of it.

Lotus sighed as she glanced towards Madoka. "Do you wish to remain with Koujo?"

Madoka nodded wholeheartedly. "Yes, I do. I lost him once - I don't want anything to jeopardize having him again."

Lotus chanced a look at Lin who was still drinking on the bottle of whiskey. He didn't seem anywhere close to being drunk though he'd already out drank everyone - including Fang, who was notorious for his ability to drink and remain perfectly sober.

Lin's mother swallowed her criticism of her son's choices and opted to change her opinions to be more supportive of him - he had in fact been honest with her when she'd asked him what he'd done. And he had also made a very valid point. He was twenty seven years old - quite a bit over the age where she was legally able to control his actions.

One thought was still prominent in her mind as she watched her middle child casually drink his pain away. "Do you intend to ask for this woman's hand in marriage?"

Lin slowly looked up before nodding. "Yes, I intend to ask her to marry me at a later date, most likely after everything that is currently happening has been resolved."

Madoka stared at Lin with wide eyes. "I had no idea that you intended to ask me to marry you."

Lin laughed at her expression. "You truly believed that after knowing that I might have fathered you child that I would't ask you to marry me? I have enough sense of honor to marry you."

Madoka sighed. "Is it just because of your sense of honor that you'd ask me to marry you?"

Lin gulped more whiskey - the bottle was now less than half full and he was beginning to feel the effects. "Not at all. That does give me more of a reason to marry you than I already had, however my **main** reason for wanting to propose to you is that I _love_ you, Madoka."

Madoka stood up and walked to Lin who opened his arms for her. She nuzzled into his chest, taking in his scent of soap and aftershave that contrasted perfectly with her own scene of roses and lavender.

The Onmyouji leaned past Madoka and sat the bottle down on the table. Draidyan grinned at him wickedly. "Done already? I never took you for a lightweight, Ko."

Lin glared back coldly. "I assure you that I'm not a lightweight."

"You sound a bit defensive. Perhaps you're a lightweight who wishes that he could hold his liquor like the men?" Lukida said as he came out of the kitchen with several cups in his hands. "Why don't we have a little drinking competition to see who can drink the most?"

Lin sighed in frustration. "If you really want to suffer through the embarrassment of me beating you, then I'll participate in this game of yours."

...

"He should have cut himself off." Fang Lin muttered as he watched his nephew Koujo Lin drink another shot of whatever had been poured into his glass. The Onmyouji was now most definitely wasted, though refused to stop drinking until both Lukida and Draidyan could no longer drink.

Both older Lin brothers were secretly laughing at him - they knew that the only reason that they were still partially sober was that they had not drank anywhere close to how much Lin had before starting the competition with him.

In reality, they didn't _want_ to be as drunk as he was. They could already tell that their hangovers would be massive enough as it was - neither could imagine how Lin would be feeling in the morning.

After his last shot, Lin had laid his head on Madoka's shoulder and closed his eyes. The pink haired lady stared at him worriedly. She could feel his chest rising and falling against her, so she knew that he was alive at least, but whether or not he was still conscious was still up for debate.

Madoka nudged his arm gently. Lin blinked and slowly opened his eyes, though closed them almost immediately after. "I'mgoingtosleep." he slurred. Madoka raised an eyebrow in confusion - she hadn't been able to hear what he'd said. His words had come out jumbled together.

"He's going to sleep." Lotus said warily as she walked over towards the closet in the living room where extra blankets were stored. She grabbed a thick blue blanket and a pillow and walked over to the couch. "Sit up, son." she muttered to Lin while gesturing for Madoka to get off of the couch.

Madoka did as she was bid and Lotus laid the pillow down where Madoka had been sitting. With a bit of coaxing Lin had his head propped up on the pillow and the blanket draped over him.

Lotus sighed deeply. "We should all get some rest."

...

Several uneventful days passed after Dajun's funeral. To Lin, they went by in a blur, blending together with all of the other days that he didn't care to remember. The Onmyouji had very little to do around his childhood home other than read and catch up on missed sleep.

He'd been doing the former quite a lot, reading through books on shikigami in an attempt to find anything that would help him exorcise Kanon. He had found nothing positive - everything he found stated that exorcising a shiki that has escaped its master control could easily end with the death of the Onmyouji in control.

The thought that he could lose his life meant something to him now more than ever. _Madoka. _The petite pink haired woman whom Lin had fallen for. Lin couldn't imagine leaving her alone after they had rekindled their thought to be long lost romance.

He had to find a way to defeat Kanon that would not drain his energy to the point that it killed him. He had a few ideas but could not put any of them into action until he had a more solid plan, and more importantly, knew where Kanon was hiding out.

Though he had made slight progress, the research was still providing less results than Lin would have hoped for the amount of hours he had spent reading through books and web articles. It was a grueling task and the lack of fruitful insight into the solution for his predicament was beginning to wane on his patience.

Sighing in frustration Lin stood up from the desk in the living room and moved to the couch. With the intention of watching television to distract him firmly in his mind, he cut on the flatscreen, quickly turning it to the news channel.

The caption on current story that was being broadcasted instantly caught his attention. _'Unexplainable Murder in Local Prison Facility' - _he read the words again before glancing up to the news reporter who was discussing her findings on the case.

The newscaster wasn't who grabbed Lin's immediate focus. It was the small picture of the 'victim' located beside the reporter's head. The image made Lin's fist clench in anger, at the same time that it made his stomach flip.

The victim was none other than Tai Song - the father and murderer of Shun Song. Lin's gaze hardened as he glanced away from the mugshot of Tai to the reporter's face. For the first time he paid close attention to what she was saying.

'Tai Song, an inmate incarcerated due to the convicted murder of his teenage son Shun Song many years ago was killed while sleeping in his cell last night. The exact details of his death remain a mystery, though I've been told that police are questioning whether or not this gruesome murder was the result of human involvement. Photographs of the deceased will be disclosed to the public after the commercial - viewer discretion is strongly advised.'

Lin cut the television off instantly, feeling slightly sick at the thought that Tai had been killed so brutally that discretion was advised. He had hated the man with a passion, however ever since childhood, he had never wanted revenge for Shun's death. He'd only wished that he could have saved him. So many years later, he still didn't desire revenge. Tai's death seemed so... _pointless_ now. He'd been in prison for years, wasting most of his life behind bars. What would killing him now do when he'd already lost his youth?

Shaking his head, Lin sighed. He was restless - torn between wanting to do something but not knowing **what** needed to be done. There were few options, though one thing in particular came to mind.

The prison facility where Tai had been killed was the last known place where Kanon had been. If there were any clues to his whereabouts, they would most likely have been left at the scene of his latest murder.

The only thing Lin could do was head to the prison to investigate. That would give him something more to do than sit around and wait for Kanon to strike again. With that decision firmly in mind, Lin left the house and got into his car. He felt no reason to tell his family where he was heading - it was still quite early in the morning and everyone aside from himself were still sleeping. If they needed to know where he was, he had his phone on him and they all had his number.

Everything should have been in order for him to leave, although as he was pulling out of the driveway, Lin felt a slight twine of unease. Should he _really_ leave without telling anyone where he was going even though he was sure he could be back before anyone woke up?

Lin shook off his concern - if on the off chance that someone did wake up and wonder where he was, they would know to call him. It was common sense really. Plus, he was an adult - would anyone really feel the need to call and ask where he'd gone?

Lin drove for only about twenty minutes before his phone began ringing shrilly. Rolling his eyes in annoyance as he slipped it out of his pocket and flipped it open. Glancing at it quickly let him know that it was Draidyan calling. Lin was almost shocked - it was barely seven thirty am. Drai typically wouldn't open an eye until at least nine.

Ignoring his suspicion, Lin answered the call. "Dyan?"

"Koujo, where are you?" came the reply on the other end.

Lin glanced out the window to the nearest road sign. He figured that he was about twenty five minutes away from home at the least. He told Draidyan this information, hoping that it would be enough to avoid a more lengthy explanation.

It was good enough for Draidyan, though only for one heart wrenching reason.

"We can't find Madoka. Mom woke up and she wasn't in her room. She's with you, isn't she?"

Lin felt his heart stop beating instantly. Madoka wasn't at the house? Where would she have gone without telling someone? Better yet, how had she gotten anywhere? The only car and keys that she would have been able to get access to were the rental car Lin was driving. That left only one option.

Madoka had driven anywhere... She'd been kidnapped. Lin didn't have to take a second guess to know exactly who the culprit was.

No doubt it had been _Kanon. _

...

"What the hell do you mean that she disappeared?" Lin asked, his voice a low hiss, somewhere near yelling and trying to keep a facade of calm. Draidyan sighed deeply, unable to be angry with his brother's outburst - it was obvious how much Lin cared about Madoka. The worry in his eyes was tangible, not to mention the agonized expression that appeared on his face whenever he felt like no one was watching.

Deciding to be as calm and gentle as the situation would allow, Drai met his younger brother's gaze carefully. "I meant what I said. We were all sleeping until mom woke up and found that you were gone, though so was your car. We figured you'd went somewhere. Mom went to check on Madoka and realized that she wasn't in her room. She asked Luk and myself to check around before calling you, just in case you hadn't gone together. We found no traces of her so we called you."

Koujo looked away in anger. Fury coursed through him, though it wasn't directed at Draidyan. No.. it was directed at himself for not taking Madoka with him, and better yet, not leaving at all.

More prominently, he was furious with that bastard Kanon to stooping to such a _low_ level. Madoka was an amazing researcher and a highly intelligent woman, however she was no spiritualist, or even a mere combatant. She had no way to defend herself except for her basic instincts, which with someone like Kanon who Lin had learned first hand could beat him at marital arts he had trained in, basic instincts would never be enough to even hold Kanon off.

Hell, she could be dead for all Lin knew. But that wasn't plausible, was it? Kanon more than likely had taken Madoka to use as leverage against him. He wouldn't have killed her directly after taking her, would he? Before he'd had a chance to torment Lin with her absence? Lin paused as an ironic thought crossed his mind. His main issue with K thus far had been the amount of torture he'd endured by Kanon's hands. Now he was hoping to receive more torture to symbolize that Madoka was indeed still alive.

Lin chuckled lightly at the thought. Draidyan raised a startled eyebrow, though quickly lowered it when he noticed the far away look in his brother's eyes. He wasn't laughing at anything that had been said out loud - he was laughing about what he was hearing his head.

Somehow that realization didn't comfort Draidyan. In fact, it frightened him. He reached over towards Lin and grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it firmly. Lin jumped in shock but met his gaze easily. Lin noticed that the complete awareness was back in his eyes . "Draid, what is it?" Koujo asked warily.

"Nothing important." Draidyan answered secretively. Lin blinked before shaking his head. He wasn't in the mood for cryptic conversation.

"All right.." he muttered in response. "I don't think I need to tell you who took Madoka, do I?"

Draidyan shook his head sadly. "No, I think its easy enough to guess now who she's with and how much danger she's in while with him." The ghost of a memory of the flesh on his back burning, of the searing agony that shot through him.. Agony which even today had not entirely healed, plagued him again. He swallowed before forcing himself to finish speaking. "I don't think I need to tell you how serious the situation is, do I?"

Lin clenched his fists in anger. "No, you really don't. I've seen what he's capable of firsthand."

Draidyan looked down. "I've felt the extent of his powers, Koujo. I- I for a few moments, before Nazuke was hurt, I thought that he was going to completely incinerate me. I thought that he was going to make sure that I could never be identified." he swallowed again. "Look, what I'm saying is that its not just that he _seems_ incredibly powerful. He **is** powerful. He's not someone to be taken lightly."

Lin couldn't help but agree. "Indeed. He's a force to be reckoned with. But I won't let him continue tearing my life apart - I guarantee you that I **will** stop him.

Draidyan glanced out the window at the sun that was beginning to come over the horizon. "I hope you're right brother, I really do."

Lin closed his eyes. He hoped that he was right too - Madoka's life depended on it. He refused to allow himself to lose her again. Especially not now.

The circumstances were about to get _real_


	13. Chapter 13: The Truth of the Matter

"We have no choice but to attempt an exorcism. I've been completely unable to find a concrete method of releasing Kanon from me." Koujo Lin stated bluntly into the cell phone situated beside his ear.

Naru sighed on the other end. "I'm assuming that you've at least discovered the spirit's identity? I trust that I don't need to remind you that it's near impossible for you to exercise a spirit without knowing who they were before death."

"I know all too well who Kanon was in life - that's also how I know that I need to be the one who ends him. These attacks weren't random. He premeditated everything he's done - he admitted that much to me during our encounter at the hospital. However I think that I've also come to the correct conclusion of why he feels that his actions against me are justified. I was ignorant of the situation and did not attempt to look for any information that was not easily obtainable. My reluctance to see the truth only made this charade more personal to Kanon." Lin responded darkly as an image of Madoka's smiling face popped into his head, tormenting him and making him angry, but most of all forcing him to realize that his lack of caution had caused him to completely fail her.

"What makes this personal to him?" Naru asked.

Lin stiffened. He was not emotionally prepared to explain to Oliver what he had just barely come to understand - and accept himself. "I'd rather keep the specific details private if that's alright with you. However I'll leave you with a piece of wisdom: the bonds of friendship should remain strong enough to transcend the passage of time, as well as the possible death of either person involved. If your friend moves away, or in my particular case, passes on, honor them by never forgetting the friendship you shared with them. It dishonors their memory to pretend that they never existed at all, or to deny the pain that their absence causes you. That pain is proof that they were real and mattered to you. That's something that most people don't want to forget - that they had someone who cared about them. I was a damned fool to ignore what shouldn't have had to be pointed out to me."

Naru was silent on the other end. Lin realized that his mind had probably wandered to the darkest place it could go - to the memory of Gene's death. The car hitting him - that time supposedly on accident, and then the second time to ensure that he was in fact dead. Then the yellow rug, wrapped tightly around his body with the hope that it would cause his mangled remains to sink after they were discarded in a lake. All of this occurring while Naru stood in their bedroom, one of Gene's t-shirts clutched in his hand as he was forced to see as well as **feel** every bit of pain the person closest to him was subjected to before he was finally, mercifully put out of his misery.

Lin knew how much Gene's death had charged Naru. Losing Shun had done very similar damage to his own emotional state. Though both of them were suffering silently through their own pain filled battles, they needed to stay strong throughout this ordeal before Kanon stuck again and claimed someone else's life.

"Oliver, are you still there?" he asked carefully. At first there was no answer, though after another moment of silence on the other line, Naru coughed.

"Yes, I'm here. I'm sorry, I lost my concentration for a moment. Based on what you've told me, I've realized that you'll most likely have your work more than cut out for you when dealing with this situation. You'll probably need assistance in resolving the issue. You can expect to see the rest of SPR's team and myself in China within a few hours."

Lin nodded though he knew that Naru couldn't see him. "I'd appreciate that. I'm not positive if we'll be able to figure out how to defeat him before he gets frustrated with waiting, but its worth a try. Plus, we don't have any other options left."

"I've updated Martin and Luella on what has been happening. Mother had a fit - she's deathly worried about Madoka. We've got to get her back before Luella tries to kill us both." Naru replied seriously.

Lin bit back the chuckle that he felt coming on - he knew that though petite, when angry Luella Davis was a force of nature that he didn't wish to be caught up in. Although even without that logic the nature of Naru's comment was plenty enough in itself to prevent him from laughing - Madoka was in danger. "I know. I can't allow Kanon use her to use her as a weapon against me. If something were to happen to her..." Lin allowed the sentence to trail off as images of Madoka lying on the ground covered in blood and slowly dying began tormenting him.

Naru released a small sigh. "Don't worry too much about her. Madoka is strong willed. She'd much sooner drive Kanon to the point of insanity than him breaking her. I'm sure she'll be alright."

"She might be pregnant, Oliver." Lin replied despondently. He didn't know why he'd brought it up. It wasn't Naru's fault that Madoka had been taken, and it sure as hell wasnt his fault that it might be with the addition of a baby growing inside of her.

Lin knew that both responsibilities inevitably fell on his shoulders. He hadn't been home when Madoka had been kidnapped by Kanon - it was his fault that he hadn't thought to bring her with him or leave one of his shiki there to alert him that she could be in danger. He'd been careless, and now the lives of Madoka and possibly even their unborn child could be in peril. Speaking of the possibility that Madoka bore his child - if it turned out that she was pregnant, he was the one who had gotten her pregnant, relying on a prevention method that was never one hundred percent guaranteed to prevent pregnancy. He had made the decision to take the risk despite the possible repercussions. It was his _responsibility_ to care for her well-being and that if their baby.

"The child is yours, I presume?" Naru asked, jarring Lin out of his thoughts.

"If she's pregnant, yes." Lin's reason was monotonous. He was stifling his worry for Madoka - this was no time for him to emotionally fall apart.

"Mother will be ecstatic to hear that. She loves children - no doubt she'll be asking to be made the baby's godmother before Madoka is sure that she's pregnant." Naru paused as a thought hit him. "I would refrain from telling her until Madoka is safe - knowing that a child could be in danger as well would only remind her of Eugene. Not to mention that Madoka might wish to share the news herself."

"I'll allow Madoka to spread the word in that case." Lin agreed. He knew that if he took away the pink haired lady's element of surprise that he'd end up dead. The woman loved surprises too much to allow him to take away her chance at springing the surprise on her best friend. He allowed himself a small smile. He had to believe that Madoka would be okay.

"I believe that's a wise decision. If that's all I need to begin making preparations - two days is not very much time to organize a full investigation." Naru said dismissively.

"Of course. I'll see you when you arrive." The dial tone started and Lin knew that his charge had hung up.

The Onmyouji sighed and rested his head on the desk he was sitting at. A few hiurs He had a few hours before he could even think about creating a plan to save Madoka. He refused to think about the horrors that could be inflicted on her .

...

In a house not ten minutes away, a pair of magenta eyes slowly opened. Madoka Mori was startled awake by the sound of fire sizzling nearby. She blinked in the darkness of her surroundings until her eyes adjusted to the lighting.

When she could see clearly, she immediately realized that it wasn't entirely dark - she could see the vague outline of walls and furniture surrounding her. So she was in a house - that much was clear. What house she had no clue.

Reflexively the pink haired lady reached into her pants pocket for her cellphone. Her fingers were met with nothing but fabric. Her phone was missing. Now she was worried - she was far too careful to leave the one portable means of communication she had when going somewhere.

"I wouldn't bother looking for your phone. I assure you that its safely in my possession." A voice, smooth and clear, though thick with the undeniable intent of danger spoke from somewhere close to Madoka. She tensed up when she realized that she _knew_ the voice, all too well.

"Why did you take me here, _Kanon_?" She asked, her voice full of anger. She cringed as she remembered Lin's father, pretending to be strong as he spoke to his son, all the while knowing that he'd never get the chance to repair their relationship.

"Isn't it obvious why you're here?" Kanon asked, though it wasn't really a question. It was more him wanting her to admit to him that she was here for a reason that wasn't all that hard to guess. "You're here because you seem to be important to Koujo."

"So what? You want to use me to hurt him?" Madoka questioned. She already knew the answer - the one thing that she had learned for sure about Kanon that though cryptic in his overall plans, he was straightforward about what each thing he did meant. He had taken her for a very specific and uncomplicated reason. He wanted to use her as ammunition against Lin - so that he could scare him or cause him continued pain, it didn't matter.

Despite the obvious answer of the inquiry, Kanon answered the question. "That is my goal, though not my only objective."

He was being cryptic _again_. Madoka sighed in frustration. "Would you mind telling me what your endgame is? What are you expecting from Lin? To torture him until he dies?"

Kanon's eyes flashed a darker shade of blue as he began feeling angry. "What if I told you that my overall objective is not to kill him?" he took a step towards Madoka who slid backwards on the floor where she was sitting. "What if I told you that I was the one who needs to die?"

She stopped moving as soon as the words left Kanon's mouth. Had he just confessed that he wanted to die? _Why_? Why would he want to die and how would he accomplish that by causing Lin suffering? "What do you mean that you need to die? You're a shiki - a ghost. You're already dead, right?"

Kanon chuckled darkly. "That's exactly it. I **am** dead, but have never had the privilege of being at peace. Being a shiki is a curse that I was forced to bear by none other than your dear Koujo."

"But you **were** a shiki - its his job to bind you to his will." Madoka defend uneasily. Why was Kanon bringing this up? He had bound a spirit like he would have any other - why was this one angry that it never found peace?

"Yes, I realize that. And normally that would undisputed thing that an Onmyouji was supposed to do in his line of work. But Koujo made one fatal error." He was still looking at Madoka, but his gaze was far away - transported somewhere where Madoka couldn't see.

"Which was?" She asked carefully as she attempted to get him to focus on her again. She didn't like the faraway look in his eyes - she had no idea what darkness that he was thinking of, and in truth, she didn't want to know.

Kanon met her gaze again. "He bound _me_."

This confused Madoka even more. "I still don't see why you're upset - he bound you like he would have bound any other shiki."

Kanon shot forward and grabbed Madoka by the chin, yanking her painfully to her feet. The pink haired lady refused to make any sounds despite the fear she felt. Kanon smiled wickedly as he noticed the defiance written clearly in her expression. "Koujo has really told you so little that you don't know who I was to him in life?" the smile disappeared only to be replaced by a look that could only be described as.. _hurt_. "He cares so little that he'd keep my existence from even his lover?"

Madoka blushed at being called Lin's lover, though didn't comment on the question that Kanon had asked. He didn't seem to really be talking to her anymore anyway - more like he was having a one way conversation with himself.

Kanon released Madoka's face and stepped away. "I was once a friend of Koujo's. No, that's not right - I was more like a brother, the only thing separating us from being related was blood."

Madoka's eyes widened in surprise and fear. "You were once his _friend_?" She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Kanon nodded thoughtfully. "We grew up together. Childhood friends, nigh inseparable up until we were teenagers." the shiki closed his eyes for a moment before continuing. "I never had siblings - after I was born, my mother could never conceive again. Luckily for mother, her close friend had a son who was only about a year older than I was. She spoiled the boy like her own. Koujo and I grew up all but sharing our mothers. We were raised as if we were brothers in everything but blood. The fact that we were not related never seemed to faze us, or it simply never mattered. We were _brothers_. " Kanon laughed harshly. "Or at least I thought that we both felt that sentiment. I've been enlightened to much that I didn't know lately. "

Madoka could feel the burning behind her eyes. She was fighting _tears_. She wasn't forgetting all of the wrong that Kanon had done. It was more like she was beginning to understand why he had taken the actions that he had.

He must have felt so _betrayed_ when he had realized that he'd been bound to the man that he had viewed as brother. Lin had used him as a slave against his will. The pain that he must have felt at realizing that Lin seemed to have disregarded a friendship that had meant so much to them when they were younger.

Tears began slipping from Madoka's eyes. She decided not to hide her sadness from Kanon - she knew that he wouldn't appreciate her sympathy, but in her own way it showed her acceptance of his story, and her understanding of his pain.

Kanon glanced at the crying woman for a brief second. "Do you wish to hear the rest or have I told you enough?"

Madoka dabbed at her eyes with the bottom of her shirt. "Yes, I'd very much like to hear the rest of your story - please continue."

"What do you think my natural hair color is?" Kanon asked seriously. The question was so out of the blue that Madoka was almost taken aback.

"It isn't black? The color looks very natural on you." She answered despite the odd question.

Kanon laughed for the first time without malice. It seemed almost genuine. "You'd be wrong. In life, I had white hair. It made it quite easy for me to hide during the winter months." He grinned slightly at the nostalgic memory of playing through snow drifts during his childhood, hiding from a boy with ashen black hair.

Madoka chuckled at the thought of a younger white headed Kanon and Lin laying in the snow making snow angels. "I can imagine. May I ask why you changed it to black?"

Kanon's expression became sad again. "I didn't decide for it to change. By the time that I had awoken after breaking free from Koujo's control, my hair's color had shifted. I have a theory as to why it changed, however." Kanon's voice was low as he ran a hand through his dark black hair. "I stated that Koujo and I were as close to being brothers as two people who didn't share blood could be. Not being blood related never meant all that much to us. However there was always a foolish desire that I possessed - to be genuinely related to my close friend. I wanted to be Koujo's _real_ brother. My theory is that when I changed appearance after breaking away, I subconsciously shape shifted into a form that would make me resemble him more. Maybe so that I could better disguise myself from detection. Or maybe so that I could be closer to being his brother. It is an idiotic notion, though it is also my best guess."

Madoka smiled despite the tears that were still leaking from her eyes. "Its not idiotic - it sounds about right in fact. You can shape shift, so why would changing your overall appearance be all that difficult?"

Kanon looked deep in thought. "I shouldn't have been able to. His electromagnetic vision should have been able to detect my true form underneath the mask that I wore, but it didn't. Unless he ignored the fact the spirit that he was binding more than resembled his deceased friend."

"I don't think he would have done that. Maybe you didn't change your form - what if what we're seeing is a strong illusion that even Lin's vision can't see through?" Madoka asked. It was definitely a plausible theory. From what she knew of Lin's electromagnetic vision, it wasn't sure proof. He could still be tricked by illusions.

Kanon raised an eyebrow as he pondered Madoka's suggestion. He had to admit that it had merit. "You're implying that I subconsciously put an impenetrable illusion on myself so that I looked like him?"

Madoka nodded. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Even in death, you never let go of your devotion to Lin - you still wanted to be his brother. Maybe you still do?" She asked gently, phrasing the last sentence like a question.

She met Kanon's gaze and was mesmerized to see genuine _tears_ in the shiki's eyes. "Perhaps you're right. You're perceptive for a human - I can see why Koujo was drawn to you." The shiki wiped his eyes on his sleeve before reaching towards the table behind him. He picked up a rectangular object and threw it to Madoka who caught it just before it hit the floor. It was her cellphone. The pink haired lady stared at the device in confusion, as if it were some foreign object she had never seen. Kanon noticed her confused expression and sighed.

"I want you to call Koujo. I'm ready to end this charade. Tell him to come to where the end happened and the beginning started. Koujo will know what it means, unless the years have made him incredibly dense."

...

_"He said to come to where the end happened and the beginning started. I don't know what that means, but he said that you would." _

Madoka's voice, sweet and strong, spoke to Lin through his cell phone. It brought him comfort knowing that she was alive, but the words that she spoke brought him equal amounts of pain.

It wasn't difficult to guess what end Kanon was referring to. In fact, it was the only _logical_ conclusion. The end had been his death - the end of his life as a human and the end of the memories that they would make in their long friendship.

It was a thought that brought Lin both happy and devastating memories. He missed Shun, but could not retain his past sentiments towards who the white haired boy had become.

Shun Song would never have stooped so low as to kidnap someone, and murdering them would have never crossed his mind. Then again, Shun would have never thought that he would die that night. He would never have dreamed that he was walking home through the cold snow for the last time.

That possibly even explained why he had not moved on after death. He had died so unexpectedly, there had been no time for him to do any of the things that he might have wanted to before taking his last breath.

But most of all, Lin felt that _he_ had been his friends link to remain in the physical dimension rather than moving on and seeking everlasting peace. Shun had asked him one simple thing; 'never forget me'.

Lin had obliged that heartfelt request until two years after Shun's death, when he bound his first shiki. He began having severe, debilitating migraines and stomach churning nightmares of Shun dying in multiple, gruesome ways.

He put up with the scarring dreams until one night when he had a particularly violent dream of Tai holding a cigarette lighter. He had approached Shun slowly from behind before throwing the lit lighter at his son.

Lin had screamed a warning to Shun so loudly in both his dream and reality that his throat had been raw. Even though he had yelled so loudly, Shun hadn't been able to hear him. The lighter hit him in the back, igniting his clothes and hair. The once pure white locks were burned to an irreconcilable black.

Lin had woke up screaming. Both Draidyan and Lukida had rushed to his aid. One look at his expression had told them everything that they needed to know.

After that night, Lin slowly began pushing Shun from his mind. He still reflected on his loss almost daily though refused to let his mind linger. Eventually, his nightmares became less and less frequent, until they ceased altogether. His headaches hadn't disappeared, however. He had originally attributed them to stress, but he now wondered whether or not that was the truth.

"Lin, are you still there?" Madoka's voice asked, this time sounding concerned. Lin realized that several minutes of him being completely lost in his thoughts had passed. How many times had Madoka called his name...? "Lin, answer me of you're still there!" She was insistent now. Lin coughed to clear his throat and signify that he was still on the phone before answering her.

"I'm here. Sorry, I was lost in my own thoughts." He muttered apologetically.

Madoka sighed sadly in response. "Do you know where to go to find us?"

Lin chuckled without humor. "I do indeed. I went there many times during my childhood. The place holds many, many fond memories as well as dark memories that still haunt me." He shook his head to clear his mind from the onslaught of memories. "I'll be there soon."

Lin grabbed his jacket from where it was hanging on the wall before opening the front door. He was just about to step out when a thought hit him. He was completely _alone_. If everything went to hell, no one would know where to find them.

He couldn't bring himself to wait for Naru. There was no telling how long that it would take him to prepare for an investigation on such short notice.

He had to go _now_. 


	14. Chapter 14: The Ending of all Pain

"You have to let at least one of us come. You've lost your damned mind if you think that there's any way in hell we'd let you go alone." Draidyan Lin was absolutely _furious_. He couldn't believe that his younger brother had the nerve to ask him not to come with him to fight Kanon. As if he could handle everything on his own.

Lin glared at Draidyan in anger. "Why do you need to come? I assure you that I'm capable of handling this on my own. There isn't a reason for either of you to put yourselves at risk." He indicated both of his older brothers with his hand. Lukida raised an eyebrow at Lin's logic.

"You seem to forget that both of us are just as skilled as you. Why would you take extra care to ensure that we remain safely behind the sidelines if you truly feel that this task will be an easy one? Normally you'd welcome our backup. It seems to me that you want to keep us out of harms way even if it puts you further in its path. That's not the attitude of someone on a simple mission." Lukida's voice was stern, but still gentle. Lin knew what he was doing. He was to a lesser extent playing good cop to Draidyan's bad cop. He was using logic and irrefutable facts to apply to Lin's sense of reason.

The approach worked, as Lukida no doubt had intended. Lin sighed and shook his head. "You're right. I have no idea what will happen when I meet Kanon. He could very well mean to kill me. Madoka is already in danger - I don't want to expose anyone else to possible harm."

Draidyan stared at him in confusion. "Your entire team is planning to come with you to help resolve the issue - you'd allow them to come with you but not us?"

Lin smiled slyly in response. "You truly thought that I was going to let them come with me? I always intended to go on my own. I was going to suggest that the team remain here to provide support should the need arise. "

"That's ridiculous. They've dealt with dangerous cases before, haven't they?" Lukida asked as he met Draidyan's wary gaze.

"Yes, they have. But they've never dealt with someone like Kanon." Lin reasoned calmly. He didn't yet realize that he'd just worked himself into a hole that he wouldn't be able to crawl out of.

Draidyan stepped towards Lin slowly before putting his hands on the onmyoujis shoulders. "You say that _they've_ never dealt with someone like Kanon. They meaning that you're excluding _yourself_ from the group." He paused and raised a questioning eyebrow for effect. "Does that mean that _you_ have dealt with someone like Kanon before? Do you have some experience that I'm not aware of?"

Lin's eyes narrowed. He'd been caught - beaten at a game of logic he hadn't even realized he was playing. "No. I've never fought a spirit that even resembled Kanon." He answered honestly regardless of his desire to lie.

Draidyan grinned and stepped back. "I didn't believe that you had. You basically just confessed to me that you're just as inexperienced with cases like this as the rest of us are. You just rendered your entire argument invalid. Therefore, any points you made are now moot. Lukida and I are coming."

Lukida chuckled at Lin's expression. "Don't worry too much, Koujo. If it makes you feel better we'll wait a little ways away on standby until we think you might need help."

Lin sighed and shook his head in submission. "Fine. Do as you please, though do take care not to die. I don't wish to attend the funeral of anyone else in my family."

...

Twenty minutes later, Lin stood on a worn pathway that was still as familiar to him as the back of his hand. It was the road that led down to where Shun had lived.

Lin remained still on the familiar path, staring at the house off in the distance. It hadn't changed at all from the last time he had set foot there - the night of Shun's murder.

Draidyan and Lukida stood behind Lin restlessly, waiting for him to gather his bearings. Lin glanced back at them and noticed their impatience. He sighed deeply and turned back towards the house. He had taken enough time to prepare. Now it was time to move.

It took very little time to walk down the path. Before long, Lin was standing in front of the worn wooden porch, the exact spot where Tai Song had stood when before shot his son. Realizing that the final moment had arrived, Lukida and Draidyan made a decision. They couldn't allow their baby brother to handle this huge burden without their support.

Lukida took a step forward and placed a hand on his brothers shoulder. "We're coming with you. I know what I said, but please understand that when Nazuke got hurt, there was nothing that either of us could do to stop Kanon. It would never sit right with me if we let you go in there alone and you got hurt. If we're in there with you, we can at least say that we tried to help."

Draidyan offered a sly grin. "It's easier to just accept that we're coming in with you rather than asking us not to - you should know that we'd just walk in after you regardless of what you say."

Lin rolled his eyes. "I should have known better than to believe that I truly had your full cooperation."

The insult didn't affect either brother's desire to come inside with Lin. The onmyouji hadn't really thought that it would. He shook his head and bounded up the porh, pausing a moment before pushing the door open.

...

As soon as the door opened, Lin was met with the familiar living room of the Song household. Everything was the same as it had been last time he had seen it - after Shun's death, his mother had moved from the house in a rush, leaving everything but the bare necessities behind.

It gave everything an eery feeling, as though the house had been abandoned without warning. In truth it had, though for good reason.

"Koujo, its nice to see that you arrived here in a timely matter." Lin heard the dreadingly easy to recognize voice that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he slowly raised his gaze upwards. His stare was met with cold blue eyes directly in front of him. Kanon smiled slightly. Lin didn't respond at all, he simply began rubbing his head carefully where the now all too familiar migraine was beginning to pulsate. Kanon's spirit wasnt dampened by his old friends lack of response. He simply offered inquisitive smiles in the directions of Lukida and Draidyan who stood on both sides of Lin. "You brought company. It's intriguing to see that both of them are still alive. It seems as though humans are less fragile than I originally believed." Both men stiffened in anticipation for what Lin's response would be.

Lin ignored Kanon's comment, instead opting to change the subject. "Where's Madoka?"

Kanon looked genuinely surprised for a moment. "Madoka? Who in the world would that be?"

Lin glared at him in absolute rage. He took a step towards the shiki. Kanon smirked - he was far from afraid of his adversary. "Don't play games with me. . Madoka?" Lin asked again, enunciating each word slowly.

Kanon grinned. "She's fine. You worry far too much about her - she's a strong woman."

Lin wasn't convinced. "Believe me, I realize her strength, however I also acknowledge your power. You could have done countless things to her before I arrived."

"I could have. But _would_ I is the question that you should be asking yourself." Kanon replied simply.

Lin let out a harsh laugh. "Honestly? I don't know what you would or would not do anymore. You could stoop down to any number of levels that the Shun I knew would never have dreamed of going to. I've lost all perception of who you once were."

Kanon flicnched. He couldn't stop the reaction. He _knew_ that Lin saw it, but he refused to address it. Instead be turned his back to Lin. "She's over there, sleeping." He pointed towards the couch that was obscured from Lin's view.

Lin stepped past him so that he could see the furniture. Madoka laid on the couch, seemingly asleep. The onmyouji grabbed Kanon's shoulder, forcing the shiki to look at him. The expression on Lin's face was murderous. "What the hell did you do to her? Why is she unconscious?"

"She's not." Kanon said slowly. "I've already told you that she's simply sleeping. I've done nothing to her."

Lin sent a telepathic link to his five shiki. The bound creatures descended from above him in the form of thin whips. Kanon stared at the spirits for a moment before glancing back to Lin. "What do you intend to do?"

Lin's eyes were as cold as frozen coal. "I intend to end this game, as I should have done when you broke away from my control."  
**_**  
Draidyan and Lukida took that as their cue to back up. They walked to the porch so that they were out of the way. Lin barely noticed that they'd moved. His gaze was focused on the man in front of him. Kanon raised an expectant eyebrow as Lin stood still, not making a move to attack him. "What is it that you're waiting for?" He asked Lin calmly.

Lin didn't answer in the form of words. Instead he grabbed Kanon by the collar of his jacket. The onmyouji hauled the shocked shiki out of the house and onto the front porch.

Kanon said nothing as Lin whistled for his shiki. The five whips who had been floating inside the house flocked outside and began rotating above their master's head. Lin sent a telepathic command to the spirits. _'Kuài. Wéiràozhe tā de shēntǐ jiéhé bìng tuōlèile tā de ménláng.' _

The bound creatures did as they were bidden. They quickly descended from the air and wrapped tightly around Kanon's body. The rogue shiki stiffened as he realized that he couldn't move. He also realized that he should have expected this method of attack from Lin. "Ah, I see. You believe that by restricting my movements you can defeat me?"

Lin stared at him blankly. "Not necessarily. You have many mental abilities that don't require the use of your body - restricting your movements does not render you completely defenseless."

"You want me to attack you mentally?" Kanon asked in surprise.

Lin cringed as memories of the sensory changes that Kanon had caused with the water at the hotel, as well as the haunting nightmares and his evil doppleganger ran through his mind. "No. That isn't what I meant. What I was trying to say is that although my shiki prohibit you from physically attacking me, you could still harm me with your mind manipulation. I intend to kill you - make no mistake of that, however I'm no fool. Even without physical means of attacking me, you could still very well decimate me before I'm able to counterattack."

Kanon grinned sadistically. "Oh, you're right. I could _very_ well end your life just by using my mind. Or at the very least, I can make you wish that someone _else_ would do you the courtesy of ending your suffering." As soon as the shiki said that, he fixated his ice blue eyes on Lin's ash gray ones.

Lin began _screaming_. Draidyan and Lukida both paled at the bloodcurdling noise that their brother was making. They were unable to see _what_ was being done to him, although it obvoius that something was incredibly wrong. While they fought to figure out what was going on, Lin waged a mental war with _himself. _

He saw himself standing on the front porch were Tai had always stood in his nighmares. He was holding the loaded pistol that had been used to kill Shun. He slowly raised the weapon and aimed it at the frightened boy in front of him. He was so _certain_ that it was unloaded. He pressed the trigger, and heard the gut wrenching noise of a bullet leaving the chamber. Shun gasped and stared at him with accusatory blue eyes, before collapsing into the white snow that was slowly being turned a viscious red. The waking nightmare began anew endlessly, repeatedly forcing Lin to kill his best friend...

"Lin!" The voice was warm, like a blanket that wrapped around Lin's senses, comforting him and bringing him minor relief from his personal hell. Even if it brought him comfort, it wasn't enough to break the illusion. Lin knelt down on the porch as he once again shot Shun in his mind. Kanon stared at the young woman in wonder - she had broken the sleeping spell he'd placed on her.

Madoka Mori ran onto the porch as fast as she possibly could have. As soon as she saw Lin land on his knees on the porch, she knew that she knew that she _had_ to help him. If her words weren't enough, she hoped that her touching him would save him from from whatever demons he was facing.

The petite woman shot towards Lin seemingly as fast as a bolt of lightening. She hit his shoulder, causing him to lose his balance and topple backwards with her on top of him. Madoka gasped as they landed on the porch. At first, Lin didn't react. He was still caught up in Kanon's illusion. Madoka felt tears streaming down her face. She had thought that she could help him but...

"Madoka?" Lin's voice was low. At first Madoka was sure if she'd really heard him. She looked up to his face and saw familar gray eyes that were narrowed in confusion. The pink haired woman laid her head on Lin's chest and cried. She'd gotten through to him.

Kanon watched the spectacle for a moment before looking away. He felt dead - not physically, but _emoionally_, as if Lin's emotional torment was feeding into him. He hadn't thought this through - he'd come to realize that _somehow_, even though he was no longer under his "master's" control, he still had a mental link with him. Any strong emotions that Lin felt seemed to be passed onto Kanon.

It was part of the reason why Kanon felt so out of control. He wasn't only dealing with his own emotions, but the emotions of someone else. Any torture he inflicted on Lin was a double edged sword. But so far, it'd been _worth_ it. Causing Lin to feel like he had been the reason for Shun's death was of no exception.

Fighting past the emotionally dead feeling, Kanon coughed loudly to earn Madoka and Lin's attention. The couple stared at him with completely different expressions on their faces. Lin's was stoic - any emotions that he might have been feeling were perfectly veiled. Madoka however wore a mask of absolute rage.

"What were you doing to him?" Madoka asked as she rolled off of Lin and helped him to his feet.

"I caused him to see an illusion. One that evidently, troubled him greatly. I wonder if its because he feels a passive sense of guilt for my murder?" Kanon shifted uncomfortably against the whip like shiki that still held him and forced him to remain still.

Lin flinched. Kanon had hit a nerve - he had always felt like he had played a major role in the death of Shun. If only he'd allowed Shun to go home on time, Tai may have never gotten angry and pulled out the gun... No. Lin shook his head slowly. It _wasn't_ his fault - it couldn't have been. He hadn't known what the risks of not letting Shun go home when he needed to would be. If he had known he would have let him go home. "You're not wrong. I've always wondered if your death should have been pinned on me rather than your father. I was the one who asked you to stay late. I should have respected your desire to go home on time, but I didn't. You ended up dead by Tai's hand, but sometimes, it feels as though I was the one who pulled the trigger. I've wondered countless times whether or not you blamed me for your death. Though its obvoius that you have some grudge towards me, it is not becuase you blame me for your death. If that were the case, you would have murdered me as soon as you broke away from my control rather than torturing me and extending my life. You killed Tai as soon as you were ready - without stalling or torturing him anymore than his death entailed. In my opinion, that signifies that you wanted me to live longer. You've cast your blame, therefore I can safely assume that I'm _not_ at fault for your death."

Kanon was at a loss for words. He stared at Lin without speaking as the Onmyouji pushed Madoka behind him and slowly began approaching Kanon with a newfound intent in his eyes. Kanon didn't have to guess very much to tell that the intent was to kill him. Lin stood in front of him a moment later. He closed his eyes and sent another telepathic link to his shiki. _'Sān, nǐ bǎ tā shìfàngle - piàn chuānguò tā de shēntǐ, zhídào wǒ shuō tíngzhǐ.'_

Following their master's command, three of the whip like creatures released Kanon. Before Kanon could attempt to free himself, the shiki began slicing through him rapidly. Kanon screamed in agony as the spirit weapons ripped through his form. He couldn't break away - he was stuck in place.

Lin took a deep breath before poising his fingers for the nine cut spell. He released his held breath as he spoke the words of the powerful incantation.

_Rin_. Power for him to be able to end Kanon's life.  
_Hyo_. Energy for him not to falter in his task.  
_Toh_. Harmony so that his shiki could work together to help him kill Kanon.  
_Sha_. Healing for all of the pain that Shun's death and revival as a shiki had caused.  
_Kai_. Intution, for the lack of intuition that he had possessed when Kanon had broken away from his control.  
_Jin_. Awareness to compensate for how much he hadn't knowm about Kanon until it was in front of his eyes.  
_Retsu_. Dimension for the hope that Kanon would move past this realm and into the next.  
_Zai_. Creation for the hope that killing Kanon would create happier circumstances for the future.  
_Zen_. Absolute for his desire to give Kanon the peace he so desparately wanted.

Lin moved his hand downward in a slicing motion as Kanon screamed in pain. The sound sent chills down Lin's back as he stared at his former shiki with bated breath. Kanon struggled against the shiki holding him as the other whips continued to slice through his skin. Lin watched them for a moment before sending a single command through their telapathic link. _'Tíngzhǐ. Zàizuò de gèwèi jiāng tā shìfàng.'_

The three shiki who were cutting into Kanon ceased attacking him. The two who were left holding him released their hold on his body. Kanon collapsed forward, barely managing to stay upright as he fell to his knees. He stared up at Lin with a completely unguarded expression on his face. "Finish it Koujo. You're so close now." he muttered quietly.

Lin stepped towards him, fully prepared to oblige Kanon's wishes and end his life. However, as soon as he took a breath to speak the first words of the exorcism ritual he had decided to try, he stopped dead. Flashbacks of a white haired boy with a gigantic smile and icy blue eyes began popping into his head. He saw them as they wrestled on the ground of Shun's room, fighting over who would get the first turn of whatever game they'd been playing. He saw them as they laughed too hard about a dumb joke that he had made. He saw them as Shun stormed over to his house late at night, furious and upset over an arguement that he'd had with Tai that evening. Even with all of those things, what he saw most was his _friend_. No, Shun had been his brother in everything but blood. He knew that sentiment still rang true even after all of these years. He still loved the white haired boy who he had watched die when he was far too young.

Though he looked different and most certainly acted different, that didn't change the fact that Kanon _was_ without a doubt Shun. Lin couldn't kill him - not after he'd already watched him die once in real life, and definitely not after he was forced to watch him kill Shun repeatedly. Lin felt to his knees beside the fallen shiki. Tears began streaming down his face as he stared at the dark haired man who had once had hair that was white as fresh snow. "I can't kill you. No matter what either of us say, you're _Shun_. I can't kill you again."

Kanon felt heat behind his eyes. _'Dammit'_. He thought to himself in frustration. *_if he keeps this up, I'll back out too. He has to kill me, if he doesn't, I'll be stuck in this cursed existence for eternity.' _Shun reached forwards and grabbed Lin's shoulders, forcing his old friend to meet his gaze. "You **have** to kill me, Koujo. I'll never be able to be at peace if you don't. You don't _understand_. The only thing that I've ever wanted you to do was acknowledge that I _am_ Shun. I wanted you to reconcile me with the boy that I was once was. Before I died, I asked you _one_ damn thing. 'Don't forget me.' - its obvoius that you ignored my wish. After I came to you as a shiki, you bound me. I was not aware of my surroundings - I couldn't communicate to you what I needed you to do. I guess that before I died I'd hoped that you'd _know_ what to do. But instead of purifying my spirit, you bound it and made me a slave. Worst of all, you were not strong enough to maintain so many shiki after you bound your sixth - I broke away and regained my awareness. I _remembered_ that I used to be human, but am no longer. I was made aware again that my own _father_, if he even deserved that title, was the one who shot me at point blank. Those are things that no one wants to remember, but I was forced to because I couldn't move on. You never came looking for me - you still didnt' realize that I was the spirit of Shun, or you simply never cared. The thought that you didn't care and were perfectly alright with my death turned into a burning desire to make you _see_ me as I once was. Though the circumstances of my death corrupted me - made my personality shift to one of darkness. This change fueled a desire to harm you rather than convince you." Kanon paused as he began crying. He didn't feel like fighting it anymore - he'd fought how he really felt for long enough. He was ready to be _honest_.

Lin didn't think. He just grabbed Kanon around the shoulders in a hug. Kanon stiffened in the embrace but quickly realized that it felt _good_. It was Lin's way of saying that he recognized him - that he knew that he was Shun. Kanon returned the hug awkwardly without meeting Lin's gaze.

The Onmyouji's grip on Kanon's shoulders tightened as a thought hit him. "What made you kill my father?" he asked weakly, unsure if he truly wanted to know the answer.

Kanon lowered his head. He remembered exactly why he had taken the life of Dajun Lin. "I killed him to make a point to you. I somewhat predicted that you would realize that I was Shun. I also think that I hoped that part of you would want to save me rather than kill me. That hope was foolish however - I'm already long dead, and there is no way to reverse that without necromancy, and you are no necromancer. I wouldn't want to live like that in the first place. I killed your father to prove to you that you can't truly save _anyone_. Not your father, and not me. It was a move that I should never have made against you, but it is also one that I can only apoligize for. If the past could be changed, I'd like to think that we'd been having an entirely different conversation over a bowl of sake."

Lin chuckled darkly. "I believe that we would. However I see your reasoning - flawed as it might be, I can see why you killed my father. "

Kanon felt tears of shame leaking from his eyes. "I'm not positive if I'm happy that you understand. I take no satisfaction in knowing that it took me such great lengths to convey my identity to you and that it took you so much pain to simply see _who _I am."

Lin made a choked noise deep in his throat as the wave of emotion that he felt began overpowering him. He tried to fight back the tears but failed miserably as he began sobbing. He couldn't remember crying so much since the funeral service for Shun. Kanon grabbed him and hugged him tightly. "Kill me, Koujo. Please, just end it. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Lin was stiff as a log as he removed Kanon's arms from around him and stood up. He swayed slightly on his feet. Draidyan and Lukida who had been huddled in the corner of the porch for the entire ordeal took a slight step forward. Madoka held up a hand to stop them as she walked to Lin's side and wrapped her arms around his waist. "You can do it, Lin. You're strong enough - and you know that even though it'll hurt like hell, granting him the peace that he desires won't only give him peace, but it'll put your mind at rest as well. Do it for both of you." Madoka's voice was strong though her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. She stepped away from her boyfriend to give him the space he would need to do whatever he chose to.

Lin spoke the words of a purification ritual that he picked up on rather than the exorcising ritual. He realized that despite everything that pointed otherwise, Kanon was not a malevolent spirit. An exorcism would cause him more pain than he deserved.

As he spoke the words, Kanon's form began glistening, as if he were a mirage in the desert. Lin watched his form flickering in and out of existence until Kanon became semi transparent. The rogue Shiki smiled at Lin with a wide grin as a feeling of warmth began encompassing him. His hair changed to a snowy white before his skin color began to become even more see through until he was barely visible. Just before he became completely transparent, he met Lin's gaze seriously before mouthing a single sentence. "_I forgive you."_

Then he was gone.

Lin shook on his feet as sobs began racking his body. Shun was gone, dead again, killed by his own hand. Why couldn't it have ended differently? Why wasn't there a way to save his friend? A gentle forced bounded into Lin's side. It was Madoka. She hugged Lin tightly as he cried. The words he had wished he had said before Shun was gone came to his mind and he spoke them in a rush. "I forgive you too, Shun. I'm sorry that I didn't recognize you sooner."

Draidyan and Lukida came up behind their the brother and wrapped their arms around him in an awkward sort of group hug. Tears glistened in their eyes but they refused to cry - they had to be his rock.

They stood like that as Lin cried hysterically until the sounds of other people could be heard. Kazuya Shibuya bounded up the porch towards the scene, though quickly saw Lin. He realized that he and the rest of the irregulars had arrived to late. Everything had been said and done.

Kanon was dead.

**A/N So this is it - the final main chapter. The last chapter will be the epilogue, which will sum this entire rollar coaster of a fic up. **  
**Chinese translation: (each Chinese sentence that Lin said is below in English - my Chinese came from Google translate and I apologize for anything the disgraceful translator did wrong as far as translating)**  
**"Quick. Bind around his body and drag him off of the porch." **  
**"Three of you release him - slice through his body repeatedly until I say to stop."**  
**"Stop. All of you release him." **


	15. Chapter 15: Epilogue

**A/N So this is the end! Be sure to read the second A/N at the end of the fic for a surprise announcement!**

Koujo Lin stood on a desolate plot of land, surrounded by assorted flowers. The place was beautiful in its own melancholic sort of way, however Lin would have given anything not to be standing there. At the foot of the small area of land, a tombstone rested, covered in moss and other foliage that had begun growing up around it over the years that it had been sticking out of the spot. Etched into the front of the tombstone was a name, as was the usual case with burial stones. The only difference was that though all burial stones caused some degree of sadness for the people seeing them, they didn't cause Lin the wave of pain that seeing this one did.

The name written in a delicate cursive script was Shun Song. Lin stared at the etching though he felt like he was looking through it. This was where his best friend had been buried so many years ago. For awhile after Shun's death, Lin had ritualistically visited the site.

He had stopped around the time that his nightmares had started, due to the fear that he would see the ghost of Shun or something of the sort. It had been a superstitious believe, however his superstitions had turned out to be valid concerns. Kanon had been Shun's spirit, encased in what had more than likely been nothing but a temporary body.

Shun, under the guise of Kanon, had done terrible things - there was no denying that. However Lin now realized that he had felt justified when he'd committed his wrongdoings.

It was no different than how, at the beginning, Lin had felt justified by his intent to kill Kanon. In the end however, it had ended up being the most painful thing that he had ever done.

He knew that only time would take away the pain that the event had caused him.

Lin walked away from the tombstone and headed back towards home.

Back at his mother's house in Hong Kong, Lin stretched leisurely as he sat on the living room couch, stroking Madoka's hair as she laid her head in his lap.

She'd awoken and come to the living room to be comforted - she had been feeling unwell all morning.

Lin had suggested that the pink haired woman had simply eaten something that didn't agree with her stomach, though she had seemed unconvinced.

Lin's mind wandered back to the conversation that they'd had weeks before, just before his father's funeral. She had announced the possibility that she was pregnant.

And now weeks later, she was feeling nauseous this early in the morning, and the day before he'd spotted her eagerly eyeing the dinner that Lotus had laid out before pushing it away when she caught a whiff of it.

Lin was no fool. He'd learned from the experience of witnessing his mother being pregnant with his younger two siblings that nausea was a common sign of pregnancy.

When he thought about it, fatigue was as well. Madoka had began sleeping later than usual, typically being unable to rise until late in the afternoon.

Lin sighed deeply. Could it all really be coincidence? He shook the thought off - it was senseless worrying about something that he couldn't control, especially if he didn't know for sure if his concern was valid.

He had a far more pressing thought on his mind in the meantime. The small black box resting on the dresser in his bedroom popped into his head.

Nestled inside the box in purple velvet was an engagement ring. Lin planned to present it to Madoka and ask for her hand in marriage whenever this stomach bug or whatever was ailing her resolved itself.

His heart beat loudly as he pondered the idea of proposing to the love of his life. Madoka raised her head up and met her boyfriends gaze in concern as she heard the deep thumping in his chest cavity. "Lin, are you alright? Your heart is racing."

Lin stroked her hair lovingly as he tried to calm his nerves down. "I'm fine. Go back to sleep."

Madoka shook her head and sat up. She rested her head on Lin's shoulder and gazed into his eyes. "Be honest with me, Lin."

The onmyouji sighed in defeat. "I was thinking about something." his mind went back to the ring in his bedroom. "You'll have to excuse me for a moment."

Madoka quirked an eyebrow curiously before scooting off of Lin's legs so that he could get up. The dark haired man stood up and began walking to his bedroom, pausing only when he was out of Madoka's sight. He held his hand up to his chest for a moment as the nervous pounding in his heart returned. Damn, why was he so nervous? Nothing had changed to warrant the possibility of her turning him down, had it?

He shook his head. Regardless of whether or not there was the possibility that Madoka would turn him down, he had still made his decision. He wanted to marry Madoka, and would never have the chance of doing so if he didn't step up and ask her.

With that mindset, Lin reached his bedroom seconds later and approached his dresser. His eyes fell on the black box that contained the ring. He pushed the box open and glanced at the ring Lifen had helped him pick out. The band was elaborately crafted with a golden band encrusted with diamonds. The stone was a light green peridot, which happened to be Madoka's birth stone.

Lifen had insisted that Madoka would fall in love with it the moment that she saw it, and would not be able to refuse Lin's proposal. The Onmyouji trusted her judgement. After all, who better to determine the way to a woman's heart than a lady?

The answer was that more than likely, he'd made the right call by asking Lifen to escort him to the jeweler rather than asking Draidyan or Lukida to come. He could just see them picking out a ring with a skull on it, grinning sadistically as they handed it to him. Sighing deeply, Lin steeled himself for what could prove to be the most happy, or devastating moment of his life. He walked back out his still opened door, not bothering to close it as he walked to the living room.

Madoka still sat on the couch, her magenta eyes wide as she caught sight of Lin's hand behind his back. She was almost afraid of what he was carrying - he was never so suspicious. If it was something truly important, typically Lin would be upfront about it. She locked gazes with the man she loved for only a brief moment before he glanced away, a slight blush creeping into his cheeks. Making him blush was a rare occurrence in itself. What was he so embarrassed about that even staring her in the eyes for the briefest of seconds could make him blush like a bride?

She was just about to ask him to tell her the truth when the Omnyouji slowly moved his hand out from behind his back. Madoka's eyes fell on the black box he held and her heart skipped several beats. Was that a... ring box? Why on earth would he be bringing her a ring. He couldn't possibly be intending to propose to her, could he?

Madoka had her unasked question answered as Lin approached her as calmly as he could manage. When he was within a few inches of her, he paused, closed his eyes, and knelt to the ground on one knee. Madoka felt unshed tears building up behind her eyes, but she refused to cry. She couldn't.

Lin gazed up at her lovingly as he slowly opened the box that contained the graceful peridot ring. He took the ring out carefully as he held Madoka's gaze. "Madoka... we've went through a lot together since we first met. From teaching Naru how to survive with his powers, to breaking each other's hearts and burying Eugene. And more recently, us rekindling that broken romance and... you know the rest. My point is that I love you, more than I did before. I've come to realize that I don't want to be without you - I've experienced what life is like without you by my side. It taught me that you make my world brighter, and make me a better person. I want to be with you, and can only hope that you share the same sentiments." he took a deep breath to prepare himself for the main point of his rambling. "I guess what I'm trying to ask is.. would you marry me?"

Madoka Mori's world exploded as she stared at the man kneeled on the ground in front of her, the same man who had broken her heart when she had been only seventeen years old. She had been separated from him emotionally for so many years, but when they had gotten back together, the world had clicked, and all wrongs that they had done to each other that night when they had gotten stupidly drunk, all seemed a little bit less bad.

And now here was, asking her to marry him, with a look of nervousness on his face that rivaled how she had looked when she'd met him.

Madoka realized that she had fallen victim to her own thoughts. Lin was still kneeling on the ground, his dark gray eyes staring at her with a vulnerability that she was not used to seeing from him. It made her realize just how much effort it must have taken for him to ask her such a major question. He had truly gone out on a limb by asking her, and she still hadn't answered him.

What was she waiting for? She wanted to marry him, didn't she? The answer to that question hit her in the form of a flashback. She'd went to the doctor a few days before and gotten some news... She shook her head if he was asking her to marry him, then that must mean that he was willing to accept whatever being her husband entailed. Madoka met Lin's gaze softly. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Lin blinked in minor shock. Had he heard her correctly? He stared at the woman he had asked to be his fiancee for a moment. She was smiling, and tears were beginning to stream from her eyes. She was crying, and Lin got the distinct impression that they were tears of joys, rather than tears of sadness.

That must mean that she had indeed said 'yes' to his proposal. The Omnyouji stood up from the ground and wrapped his arms around the pink haired woman. Giggling, she pushed him away and held up her hand expectantly. Lin realized that he hadn't placed the ring on her finger as was customary for the man to do while proposing. He laughed in embarrassment and slipped the ring over her finger. It fit perfectly and met no resistance. It looked just as beautiful against her skin as Lifen had insisted that it would.

Best of all, she had said yes. He had really done it - he'd finally take the incentive and proposed to the woman he loved, and she had accepted. It brought him peace of mind knowing that he wouldn't have to live with the fact that he'd lost her again. She'd be by his side now, until death do them apart as it were.

Lin beamed widely as he lifted Madoka off of the ground and into his in a bridal position. She laid her head on his shoulder and smiled, until she remembered what she had neglected to tell him. She knew that it could make their newly engaged excitement dwindle, but all the same, he deserved to know. "Koujo?" she said gently.

"Hm?" came the reply a moment later.

Madoka sighed deeply as she steeled herself to tell her fiancee what could lead to be some of the most life changing news he'd ever heard. "You know what we talked about before your dad's funeral?" she waited for a response but didn't receive one. She took it as her cue to plunder on. "Lin... I'm pregnant."

Lin stiffened. "Are you sure?" he asked carefully as he lowered Madoka back to her feet.

His fiancee nodded with complete certainty "According to the doctor, yes. He could see two seemingly healthy babies."

She heard a sudden cough. Lin sputtered as he tried to talk past the knot that had formed in his throat. "Two? You're having... twins?"

Madoka nodded. "I'm not sure of the gender yet, but the doctor can clearly see two babies." she laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready to be a father?"

"I guess I have to be." Lin laughed slightly. "I'm the one who got you pregnant - they're my kids. Its my responsiblity to take care of them and be the best father that I can be, and the best husband to you. "

Madoka wiped her eyes and then wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you, Koujo." The pink haired lady felt familiar arms wrap around her waist.

"I love you too, Madoka." The newly engaged couple stood like that, tightly embracing. The troubles and triumphs that would follow could be worried and pondered on later. But at that moment, it was just the two of them.

They had their entire lives ahead of them.

**A/N I'm working on a sort of sequel fic to The Account - it'll be my first fic written with an outline so I'll know what is happening before it happens. It should come along much faster than this one did. **


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